Four NGOs have started legal action in a bid to stop a large Nadur development that is linked to a controversial 300-year-old property foundation.
In a joint statement, four conservationist groups on Saturday said they had filed a judicial protest in the hope of stopping a development application slated for approval by the Planning Authority.
The protest was filed by lawyer Philip Manduca on behalf of Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Moviment Graffitti, Għawdix, and Din L-Art Ħelwa Għawdex.
The groups said that despite the objections of more than a thousand people, the Planning Authority has recommended the approval of a large, imposing block of apartments on the edge of Nadur overlooking a green valley.
In this case, a company called Carravan Company Limited entered into a long-term lease (emphyteusis) on the land with the medieval foundation called Fondazzjoni ta Sant Antonio Delli Navarra.
Last month Times of Malta reported how a number of Nadur and Qala residents have been approached to pay hefty sums of money for their property, following a land-ownership dispute linked to the foundation.
Meanwhile, the four NGOs said the Planning Directorate has justified its decision to recommend approval, saying “the density of the apartments would still be imposed if the development was proposed on a plot by plot basis.”
“This is bizarre and preposterous, and exposes the attitude of a Planning Authority that is either defeatist or accommodating, but certainly not a planner,” the statement reads.
The NGOs say the proposed development will completely dominate the area.
Moreover, they say the application should not even have made it this far in the approval process.
The planning application was filed by Victor Hili of Titan Developments Limited, the NGOs said.
A number of residents have sent letters to the Planning Authority declaring that they are the real owners of parcels within the site.
Hili then amended the application form and declared that he had been authorised to carry out the development through an agreement with the owner.
After accepting his amended application, the PA “made a further logical twist” by arguing in the case officer report that ownership issues are beyond its remit, the NGOs’ statement reads.
“The application should have been dismissed over the fact that the applicant has not certified to the level required by law this point on ownership,” the NGOs said.
The NGOs are now requesting the PA dismiss the application.
The case is on the agenda of the planning commission for December 15, 2021.