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APRIL 2008 NUMBER 33 €3.00 (Lm1.29) NEWSPAPER POST Din l-Art Óelwa is a non-governmental organisation whose objective is to safeguard the cultural heritage and natural environment of the nation. The Council Din l-Art Óelwa functions as the National Trust of Malta, restoring cultural heritage sites on behalf of the State, the Church, and private owners and managing and maintaining those sites for the benefit of the general public. Founder President Judge Maurice Caruana Curran Din l-Art Óelwa strives to awaken awareness of cultural heritage and environmental matters by a policy of public education and by highlighting THE COUNCIL 2007-9 development issues to ensure that the highest possible standards are Executive President maintained and that local legislation is strictly enforced. Martin Galea Vice-Presidents Martin Scicluna Major Philip Zammit Briffa Hon. Secretary General Edward Xuereb Hon. Treasurer Victor Rizzo Communications Officer Simone Mizzi Members Professor Anthony Bonanno Carolyn Clements George Camilleri Founder President The views expressed in Judge Maurice Caruana Curran VIGILO Cettina Caruana Curran are not necessarily Maria Grazia Cassar VIGILO those of is published in Joseph Chetcuti Din l-Art Óelwa April and October Charles Gatt Cynthia de Giorgio VIGILO e-mail: Din l-Art Óelwa Cathy Farrugia [email protected] has reciprocal membership with: Dr Stanley Farrugia Randon Dr David Mallia The National Trust of England, COPYRIGHT by the PUBLISHER Dame Blanche Martin Wales & Northern Ireland Din l-Art Óelwa Richard McGonigle Dane Munro The National Trust for Scotland EDITOR Helga Pizzuto DESIGN & LAYOUT JOE AZZOPARDI John Sarè The Barbados National Trust Andy Welsh PROOF READER JUDITH FALZON Director The National Trust of Australia Dr Petra Bianchi PHOTOGRAPHS The Gelderland Trust for If not indicated otherwise photographs are by Din l-Art Óelwa Historic Houses JOE AZZOPARDI National Trust of Malta The Gelderland ‘Nature Trust’ 133 Melita Street PRINTED BY Din l-Art Óelwa Best Print Co. Ltd. Valletta VLT 1123 Ûurrieq Road Tel - 21 225952 is a member of Qrendi QRD 1814 Fax - 21 220358 ICOMOS - Malta Europa Nostra open The International National Trusts Monday - Friday Organisation (INTO) 9:00 am - 12:00 noon V I G I L O The National Federation of ISSN - 1026-132X e-mail NGOs of Malta [email protected] and web The Heritage Parks NUMBER 33 www.dinlarthelwa.org Federation APRIL 2008 C 02 Executive President O 04 Secretary General N 06 Restoration Notes SPECIAL ARTICLES T 08 Din l-Art Óelwa Events 07 39 14 Corporate Members E The Lunzjata Fountain Irricikla t-Tlieta and Valley by Christopher Ciantar by Victor Rizzo 15 Din l-Art Óelwa Sponsors N 42 09 The Flemish Tapestries at Photoshots The Reform of Mepa St John's Co-Cathedral 40 T by Martin Scicluna by Cynthia de Giorgio 46 Saving the Environment S 12 44 The International National The Limits of Limestone 48 Publications Reviews by Petra Bianchi Trusts Organisation 51 Letters to VIGILO 16 45 The Eynaud Monument at Buskett - A National Ta' Braxia Heritage Site by Andy Welsh Sculptural detail from the chapel of by Petra Bianchi St Anthony of Padova, Fort Manoel 18 What Would Happen if it was Gone? by Matthew Vella 22 The National Archives 26 Fort Manoel by Joe Azzopardi 34 Dwejra - A Coastal Nature Park by Vince Attard FRONT COVER BACK COVER Woven coat-of-arms Sculptural detail from the of Grand Master Perellos chapel of St Anthony of Padova, Fort Manoel 2 VIGILO - DIN L-ART ÓELWA AprIl 2008 Bad Planning Decisions Martin Galea Executive President of Din l-Art Óelwa The interesting thing about the last election was that the environment, specifically the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa), topped the political agenda. Bird hunting was also a big issue, with the hunters trying to use the narrow margin between the parties to " We now look to the Prime bulldoze through their demand for spring hunting. The results are what they are and the new administration, Minister to bring some and Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi in particular, has pledged semblance of justice and to tackle the issues that have been causing so much damage to our environment. The fact that he has kept his promise to keep equity to the planning Mepa under his own Ministry is good news. We look forward system " to working with the Prime Minister to bring about a real balance between the environment and development and reduce the so-called environmental deficit. Din l-Art Óelwa has always supported Mepa as an institution but, as we have consistently said, certain high profile decisions have considerably tarnished its reputation and brought the whole planning process into disrepute. I will give three examples that show just how badly some planning decisions are taken. The first is of course the case for a development permit issued at Mistra – a cause celebre in the recent election campaign, " We look forward to as the owner of the land was Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. In this case, Mepa acted correctly. The case officer very working with the Prime rightly recommended refusal, the reasons for this being that it would Minister to bring about necessitate the sanctioning of illegal building (which cannot be done), it was outside the development zone (ODZ), it was in a buffer a real balance between zone of a Natura 2000 site, it is an area of international ecological the environment and importance and an area scheduled as being of high scenic value. development and A more categorical recommendation for refusal, with such weighty reasons, could not be given. Yet the Development Control reduce the so-called Commission, which is the board that reviewed the permit, over-ruled environmental deficit. " the Case Officer’s objections and granted a permit (conditional, in the circumstances). This was a scandalous decision in every respect. The second case is as bad. In 2006, the areas allowed for development were extended in what was a very dubious consultation process. All the environmental NGOs were up in arms at this sudden revision of the local plans in a six-week consultation process that saw AprIl 2008 VIGILO - DIN L-ART ÓELWA 3 Throughout all this, the Mepa auditor has always acted with courage and honesty. In the face of rogue DCC and planning boards and, to my mind, illegal decisions, he has investigated cases and come out with clear reports exposing the (at best) incompetence of these decisions. Mention should also be made of the role of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, which is the appointed official guardian of Malta’s built and natural heritage. There have been disconcerting occasions where Mepa has ignored its firm recommendations. We now come to the Mistra case – another scandal in the making. Mistra Village was a tourist development sympathetically built on the promontory overlooking St Paul’s Bay and Mistra Bay. It is on a high point but was restricted in height. The new owner has now applied for a massive complex of apartment buildings up to 16 storeys high. Under the flimsiest justification of floor area the land available for development increased The proposed development site at Mistra and Urban Conservation Areas considerably ratio (the latest planning wheeze) the case reduced. At the time, we were promised officer, ie the Mepa directorate in this case, by the Rural Affairs and the Environment has recommended granting of the permit. The Minister that the extension was necessary and case is now before the Planning Board. It is that there would be no further development difficult to think of a more visually intrusive allowed outside these areas. project in an area so close to our countryside. It was therefore a tragic joke that we To say that it will stick out like a sore thumb heard that a major developer (who has been is an understatement. Din l-Art Óelwa will, the subject of a scathing report by the Mepa Opposite: of course, be fighting this case. auditor for a major illegal development in St We now look to the Prime Minister Paul’s Bay and who appeared to the auditor to Mistra Valley and Bay to bring some semblance of justice and equity be a law unto himself, as far as planning was to the planning system. We understand concerned) was given a permit to develop a that there will be some controversies, but supermarket in an ODZ area in Safi. Again, hopefully not of the scandalous nature of in this case, the recommendation by the Case these and other similar cases. The Prime Officer was to reject the application, but the Minister has a difficult task but he can rely same DCC board as in the Jeffrey Pullicino on our support and, indeed, the goodwill of Orlando case decided, on extremely flimsy all Maltese and foreign residents who want grounds that go totally against all planning Malta to retain its beauty and diversity for considerations, to grant the permit. The The cleared Mistra Village site this and future generations. Board, in fact, resigned after heavy criticism by the auditor who investigated this case. The third case concerns the Board of Appeal. This time, a developer’s application to build an old people’s home in Naxxar was, quite properly, rejected by a DCC board because it was situated in an ODZ area. The developer took his case to the Appeals Board, which took it upon itself to go against the Local Plan and decided that the area shown as ODZ should not be designated as such, and promptly issued the permit – a decision which, in my opinion, was clearly ultra vires or outside the powers of the board.

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