Gozo court upholds Nadur council's belvedere wall injunction

A request for an injunction, filed by Nadur local council to prevent the construction of an illegal dividing wall between council-owned lands and the belvedere, has been upheld by the Court of Magistrates in Gozo.

Magistrate Paul Coppini had been told how the plans for the 12.8 metre long wall along part of the Nadur belvedere had been the subject of a lawsuit against the Commissioner for Lands in 2004 and had been decided in favour of the proponent, Andrew Vella. Part of the green area below the belvedere also belongs to Vella, who in the past had also, unsuccessfully, applied to build two separate houses with a garage, right below the proposed wall.

MEPA’s case officer had recommended that the board approve the application, dismissing numerous previous objections by the Nadur local council and residents, who feared the 1.4 metre high wall will not only ruin the view from Nadur belvedere, but will also eventually pave the way for construction to take place inside the adjacent green area. 

Despite winning the court case, Vella had been prevented from building the wall by MEPA, which had not granted permission for the project. But in spite of MEPA's refusal to sanction the wall, works appeared to have started, regardless. The injunction was requested when, earlier this month, workers had cut off the electricity supply to the belveder's lighting to allow construction to commence. 

The council, which administers the  had immediately informed the police that council property had been damaged and engaged a contractor to repair the damage caused. It also filed the request for a warrant of prohibitory injunction against the developer, in which it asks the court to prevent any construction from taking place until the required MEPA permissions are granted.

Neither party contested the fact that the 2004 court decision had authorised the wall to be constructed instead of a railing to separate the public place from the applicant’s property right below the belvedere. However the council felt it necessary to file the injunction to avoid a situation whereby an illegal wall is built on council-administered property.

The court, after noting that the request satisfied the legal criteria, upheld the request for an injunction.