A controversial Planning Board decision to approve the “conversion of a small mound of stones into a massive villa for Joseph Portelli, may now not come into effect after all,” the Qala Local Council has said in a statement.
The Qala Local Council and Din l-Art Helwa had filed a strong appeal [1] against, what the Council described as a “scandalous decision.”
On the date set for the first hearing of the appeal, the Council said that it was declared that the developer had not fulfilled post-decision requirements and so the application was withdrawn.
Whilst reserving the rights to make further checks that the permit would not have any effect, a spokesperson for the appellants asked “why such an obnoxious application was allowed to reach this stage, requiring costly appeals and time and resources.”
The spokesperson also queried the “developer’s sudden change of heart, when the development had been pushed to the hilt before.”
The spokesperson also queried whether “this was a change of heart due to the contents of the appeal?” They reiterated that the Council would do everything possible to continue defending Qala from this assault on its natural heritage.
The permit had also been appealed by the Environment and Resources Authority [2], and tenor Joseph Calleja had shown his [3] support for the fight against the application.
Photo by Qala Local Council