Organisations take PA to Court over irregular Jerma Development Brief

A group of seven organisations filed a lawsuit against the Planning Authority (PA) after its failure to withdraw the flawed Jerma Development Brief, the NGOs said in a statement.

The seven organisations had sent a judicial protest to the Planning Authority (PA) last May for holding a vitiated and irregular consultation procedure with regards to the Development Brief for the site of the former Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala. Although the Local Plan defines the area which should be subject to the Development Brief (with the area also being defined in three maps), the PA chose to include further areas in the Development Brief exercise.

It included a green area which should be accessible to the public and where no increase in height or volume is permitted, as well as a heritage site for which there is already a policy applicable. Moreover, an area of 100,000 square metres which should be developed within the site was arbitrarily laid down.

In view of the fact that the consultation exercise was not in line with the applicable laws and policies, the organisations had given ten days to the Authority to withdraw the flawed Jerma Development Brief. Since the Planning Authority failed to do so, the organisations had no other option but to open a lawsuit against the PA.

If the defective Development Brief proposed by the PA goes ahead, it would lead to a massive development project that impacts negatively the infrastructure of Marsascala and the lives of residents, with no long-term benefit to the locality.

The organisations filing the lawsuit are: Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Green House, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust Malta, Ramblers Association of Malta and The Archaeological Society of Malta