The Balzan local council and numerous residents have filed objections with the Planning Authority to an application by construction magnate Charles Polidano, iċ-Ċaqnu, to sanction illegal works carried out at four historic Balzan townhouses, in defiance of court judgments.

They insisted that the works carried out on site were illegal and this was confirmed by the court of appeal, which upheld the revocation of two permits for works carried out on the 300-year-old townhouses and their gardens along Main Street in the heart of the locality.

Polidano filed a fresh application in September to sanction the illegalities carried out on site, as well as requesting permission to carry out “additions, alterations and restoration” on the four adjoining houses.

The application covers the illegal construction of a pool and reservoir and a new facade for an extension built overlooking the gardens, as well as earlier works.

Polidano had already defied the planning regulator by initially steaming ahead with works on the large swimming pool and deck, after the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal had revoked his permits. The works were only halted after he was formally notified of the decision.

A Knight's Residence

The tribunal had ruled that the illegalities, covered by two enforcement notices, should have automatically excluded his application from being considered. The site is in the Balzan village core, close to the parish church.

One of the properties, a palazzo and its gardens, dates to the time of the knights and is said to have been used by Grand Master Emmanuel De Rohan as his country residence.

The building next door served as the servants’ quarters and near it was a building used as stables. The property also has an underground cistern.

In 2011, the PA had issued an emergency conservation order with a list of remedial works that needed to be carried out on the buildings. A year later, the palazzo was included in the national list of scheduled buildings.

Polidano appealed a court-imposed fine, handed down in 2013 after he allegedly uprooted trees and destroyed a rubble wall in the gardens behind the properties. The appeals court eventually reduced the fine to €10,000.

The Balzan council objected to the sanctioning application, insisting that the work had been carried out without the necessary permits and should be reversed to its original state.

'They do as they please'

One resident wrote that, since the permits were revoked, all work was classified as illegal and had to be reversed.

“It is clear that the developer’s thinking is such that they can do as they please and then request sanctioning of those works afterwards,” the resident wrote.

“I find it grossly unfair that, as a matter of practice, the Planning Authority takes the view that, once a development application is submitted, no enforcement in relation to illegalities is executed. It is even more astonishing when one considers that the development in question on the same site is subject to two enforcement notices and an emergency conservation order. As the saying goes, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me,” she continued.

Environment NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa also objected to the application, expressing its concern about the “illegal destruction” of the garden. It insisted that this illegal work must not be legalised through approval of this request for sanctioning.