The Qala council and Din l-Art Ħelwa have filed an appeal against the Planning Board’s decision to turn tiny rural Qala room into a sprawling villa.

The Planning Authority approved the development in October overturning a recommendation not to approve the controversial development.

In a statement on Wednesday, they said that during the first hearing of the appeal, it was declared that the developer had not fulfilled post-decision requirements so the application was withdrawn.

Reserving the rights to make further checks to ensure that the permit was null, a spokesperson for the objectors asked why such an obnoxious application was allowed to reach this stage, requiring costly appeals, time and resources.

The spokesperson also queried the developer's sudden change of heart, when the development had been pushed to the hilt before.

"Was this change of heart due to the contents of the appeal?" the spokesperson asked, before assuring all that the council would do all possible to continue defending Qala “from this assault on its natural heritage”.

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