It is fascinating and even intriguing as to how illegality and illegitimacy morph into legitimacy through longevity and inertia. Such an innate property of time is celebrated almost universally within different languages, with adages to the tune of ‘time is the greatest healer’ being somewhat of a constant in different cultures.
The principle that illegality assumes legitimacy with time is also endorsed within planning law, with arbitrary cut-off dates being prescribed within the same legislation as the arbiter of legality. For instance, 1967 is frequently cited as one such cut-off date within planning legislation, given that the fact that a new set of aerial photographs were taken during that year in newly-independent Malta.
Hence, if a structure was visible in pre-1967 aerial photos, the same structure is automatically sanctioned, despite no whiff of a planning permit being issued. Development planning realm aside, a number of legal proceedings are also time-barred through prescription, for instance.
And nowhere is inertia more evident than during the summer season, which seems to preclude most forms of physical exertion, including enforcement, and to favour a broader tolerance towards illegality. Perhaps the Maltese site that most epitomises such a state of anarchy is L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa, where an elephant in the room – illegally-constructed (and on public land, to boot) so-called ‘boathouses’ (the mother of all misnomers) dominate the landscape, having been tolerated by successive administrators by virtue of the sheer size of the lobby they represent.
Upon closer scrutiny, beyond the obvious infringements, however, one becomes aware of a myriad other less obvious contraventions. For instance, despite the prominent signs precluding the parking of caravans around the fringes of the Armier and Little Armier sandy beaches and the erection of tents on the beaches itself, these very activities are blatantly conducted in broad daylight, just inches away from the same signs.
Why have such signs put up when they cannot be enforced, thus ending up as the butt of collective contempt? The pockets of sand dune vegetation backing these beaches have been hemmed in by infrastructural works on site, with the sand supporting rare (and of high conservation value) vegetation being simply piled up in mounds and being even used as an improvised support for generators.
The bestowment of legitimacy through longevity also recently came spectacularly to the fore during the mediatic cover of the rampant offroading at Selmun, along the northeastern coast of Malta.
We seem to be endowed with a natural tolerance of illegality, especially if it has been around for long enough- Alan Deidun
Offroading aficionados responded to the online criticism vented by many at the environmental despoilment wreaked by this pastime by resorting to the “offroading on site has been conducted for the past 20-30 years; if everyone has been turning a blind eye for all these years, why all the fuss now?” pretext.
The renewed interest by the media and by conscientious observers in restricting offroading on site also had a number of aficionados put on their tin foil hats, conjuring conspiracy theories against the motorsports sector, which has been deprived of a suitable site to practise their pastime since time immemorial.
Things are and should be much clearer than such murkiness… authorities should find an alternative (disturbed) site, which obviously does not tick the ecological importance box, and should strive to make the new site as attractive to the motorsports lobby as possible, so as to tease them away from the Selmun site and from other locations (such as watercourses/valleys) which definitely should not bear the brunt of such a practice.
The metamorphic effect that time has on the status of a development or activity should teach us all a lesson or two. Firstly – once illegality has been reported, enforcement action should be embarked upon promptly, to nip in the bud any claims of entitlement that the perpetrators might purport to have.
This is all the more dire when sensitive areas of ecological importance are involved. Take the recent encroachment by the Malta Red Cross Society on an area of ecological importance at L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa, flanking Mellieħa Bay and in close vicinity to Slug’s Bay (Daħlet ix-Xilep). While one cannot but fully commend the priceless contribution made by the Red Cross on a daily basis in assisting and rescuing individuals in situations of distress, especially during the summer season when conditions at sea become cluttered, one cannot fathom their unilateral decision to establish its northern ‘maritime station’ without going through the regular planning process, as Joe Citizen is compelled to do.
The Red Cross Society’s action involved the unpermitted installation of facilities on a protected site of high landscape value and was naturally slapped with an enforcement notice by the planning authorities. While I believe there is no question about the need for such a maritime station, the mind boggles as to why the conventional planning process was not complied with by this highly-respectable entity.
We seem to be endowed with a natural tolerance of illegality, especially if it has been around for long enough. The insidious panacea effect that time has on illegality should advocate firmer and prompter enforcement action.