Episode 1.
Living in the old core of a traditional Maltese town has its charm. Quite a few old houses around us have been renovated, reflecting back past beauty.
MEPA’s Policy UCO 10 states:
“Developments will not be permitted which adversely affect views of or from Urban Conservation Areas, or which detract from the traditional urban skyline. Particularly important views will be identified in detail in Local Plans.”
Our house being situated in a Urban Conservation Area as defined by MEPA policies should give us peace of mind that no major disruptive alterations in our environment would be carried out.
Unfortunately that policy remains a fiction as lately experienced on two occasions.
One neighbour added without warning and permits another floor to his property. Through this exercise I lost my wireless internet connection. Shortly after another neighbour decided to do the same, building another floor to his dwelling, again without any permits. I had reported both matters to MEPA and the enforcement officer, also including in my email exchanges the current chairman of MEPA. After many emails and telephone calls, both illegal dwellings are still in place and both owners have been asked by the enforcement officer to submit applications to sanctions the extensions.
The moral of the story is the following: start building and than the enforcement officer will help you to get your work sanctioned.
I bet that both extensions will remain in place despite breaching the UCA policies.
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