Property in Malta & Gozo. What to look out for.

Petra Bianchi, director, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Valletta
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Ever since I can remember, there have been illegal huts and rooms clustered along our coasts and dotted throughout the Maltese countryside, squatting on public land. And ever since I can remember, the general feeling of the public has always been one of helplessness, in the knowledge that the government of the day was not willing to do anything about it.
One result of this is the widespread attitude that the law is not equal for all. Over far too many years, people have written and complained, and environmentalists have campaigned against this state of affairs, but nothing was ever done. The problem was allowed to grow and grow until it reached huge proportions and became increasingly difficult to solve.
Now, over the last few months, some illegal structures on public land have been knocked down and removed, and some squatters have been evicted. After decades of closing both eyes to this abuse, the government has unexpectedly rolled up its sleeves and is taking swift action.
Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi must know that, on this particular issue, he has the public standing solidly behind him - that is, all those who have not built an illegal structure and are not squatting on public land. I have certainly not yet come across anyone who does not support the government's actions on this front.
However, I also haven't met anyone who has not immediately added, "but what about the rest?" - we all know that there are many, many more, and all over the place.
Now that action has commenced, it must be taken to its right conclusion. The feeling that the law is not equal for all must not be allowed to take on a new shape. This initiative must continue and press on, until all illegal structures on public land have been removed, particularly those scarring our countryside and coastline. It is also important that a use is found for sites which need to be maintained to survive, such as the Għajn Tuffieħa barracks, and that other sites are not only cleared but also rehabilitated, such as the vacated area at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.
We must not allow sites to collapse into major eyesores such as the White Rocks site, which was an attractive residential complex in its day but has been destroyed through neglect and vandalism. Another abandoned area left to ruin is Fort Campbell in Selmun.
There are countless issues which still need to be addressed. We have heard for some time that an amendment to the law is to be enacted that will forbid the sanctioning of new illegal buildings, but the step has not yet been taken. I hope that this next move to safeguard our environment will now also be made without further delay.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081112/letters/wiping-those-blotches-off-the-landscape
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A planned five-storey development in a area with a strict two-floor local plan height limitation is due to be considered for by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s Development Control Committee tomorrow.
The Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said in a statement this morning that the application is for a block of flats in Windsor Terrace, Sliema.
It had came as a great shock when Mepa’s DCC granted the developers of this site an outline permit to build five floors.
“This would create illegal high party walls on either side, as the flats are to be built right in the middle of a row of seven identical, fine old two-storey Sliema townhouses. This streetscape had been protected, however the Mepa protection indicator had mysteriously disappeared around the time that this application was submitted.”
FAA said it has been calling for the rescinding of this outline permit since the DCC had overturned the case officer’s recommendation to refuse the permit without giving justification for such a reversal according to planning regulations.
It asked how Mepa could refuse others’ permits on the grounds of washrooms that were a few feet too large, then grant a such an outrageous permit for a five-floor block of flats in a two-storey, supposedly protected, urban conservation area.
“The granting of a full permit tomorrow would certainly undermine all Mepa’s claims of a new transparency and a level playing field for all,” FAA said.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081112/local/faa-calls-on-mepa-to-refuse-permit-for-windsor-terrace-development

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA)
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Do you agree with FAA's objections? Feel free to comment