Transport Minister Ian Borg and his wife were on Tuesday given the clearance to turn an agricultural field adjacent to their house into an outside recreational area, including a swimming pool.
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Din l-Art Ħelwa, the Ramblers Association and resident Noel Ciantar submitted written objections to the proposed development at Santa Katerina, in the limits of Rabat.
However, the Planning Authority’s Development Control Commission voted unanimously in favour, upholding the arguments of the PA’s case officer that the development is in line with policy.
None of the objecting NGOs were present at the meeting to defend their submissions.
Mr Ciantar, who had also objected to a permit given to Dr Borg in 2014 to build his dwelling on ODZ land, made a number of legal arguments to support his stand. He pointed out that the case officer invoked the wrong policy to justify the development.
“As is clear from the policy adopted by the PA in 2014, it is the north west local plan that applies and not the rural policy design guidelines, which were suggested by the client’s architect when applying for the permit and which the PA case officer followed,” he said.
“Since when…
