Works on padel courts in the St Julian’s valley are ongoing despite not yet having a permit, according to the local council, which has been reporting the alleged illegalities for a month now.
The latest exchange between St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg and the Planning Authority highlighted that, up until last weekend, illegal works in Wied Għomor continued in spite of a stop notice.
Buttigieg presented photos to substantiate his claims, with images taken on Saturday showing additional beams on the site earmarked for development compared to others taken previously.
But the Compliance & Enforcement Directorate begs to differ, saying the site has been monitored on various occasions, including most recently on Monday, and that “contrary to what is being alleged, no further works have taken place since March 8”.
While conducting its investigation, which is still ongoing, the directorate had said that, on inspecting the site, additional works were noted. It reiterated that the contraveners had been served with a warning notice to stop all works with immediate effect and were instructed to remove what was carried out without permission.
To date, it said, instructions to stop works have been complied with but part of the works proposed in the pending application, PA/08981/21, have already been carried out and these have not yet been cleared, it acknowledged.
The Development Management Directorate has been notified about this and the matter is also being brought to the attention of the board that will be deciding on the application, the directorate said.
How can us residents be protected from this irresponsible action?- St Julian's mayor
Buttigieg is standing his ground on the continued illegalities, however, maintaining the images speak for themselves and that the illegal works in the valley are ongoing.
Given this, he has questioned whether a stop notice was actually issued as stated by the directorate.
Buttigieg has also warned that the council will be holding the PA responsible for this shortcoming, questioning the “scope of enforcement when this either cannot be done or there is no intention to carry it out”.
In correspondence with the Compliance & Enforcement Directorate, which has been going on for a month, he asked: “How can us residents be protected from this irresponsible action?”
This was the third time that the mayor wrote to the enforcement complaints arm of the Planning Authority about the works in the outside development zone.
The pending application for full development permission is awaiting a decision to erect demountable temporary padel courts in Triq Michelangelo Borg, including supporting elements and structure as well as minor alterations to create emergency access.
On February 18, Buttigieg had pointed out that although, no permits had been issued for any works, these had already started.
He urged the directorate to stop this immediately and “not after all irregular works are carried out as in the case of the Barracuda saga”, which saw important features of the protected Balluta building being dismantled, again before permits were issued.
The mayor accused the authority of dragging its feet on the matter, adding: “Then, some people get offended when we say the PA appears to be always on the side of those who are breaking the law.”