PA still ‘communicating’ with minister about illegal pool three months on

The Planning Authority is treating Minister Ian Borg with kid gloves when it comes to the illegal development of an Outside Development Zone field into a swimming pool and large outdoor entertainment area that has been declared illegal by the courts twice over.

Three months after a court ruling that declared the contentious development illegal, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi has confirmed that no enforcement order has been issued.

Foreign Minister Borg had been the planning minister when the illegal development took place.

Pressed in Parliament by Opposition MP Stanley Zammit to explain why Borg’s illegal development is being given the soft approach when it comes to the enforcement of a court order, Zrinzo Azzopardi merely said that “the PA is still communicating with Ian Borg”.

“At the moment, now that the development has been declared illegal, the PA is communicating with him to see whether he will be removing the illegal development himself.”

If his Cabinet colleague “does not remove the illegalities himself, or present a new application, the Authority will consider other steps,” Zrinzo Azzopardi asserted without elaborating.

Sources at the Planning Authority have informed The Shift that the minister is now suggesting that his colleague files a new application, which will buy him a few more summers at the illegal poolside.

This, however, will not lead to the sanctioning of the development since the court has made it clear that swimming pools in the rural Santa Katerina valley are precluded by the area’s Local Plan.

“The only solution for Ian Borg would be for the government to change the area’s policy. Although nothing is impossible with the way the government is currently administering the country, it would be blatant,” the PA official said.

Borg has still not commented on the situation since the 15 March court ruling.

The minister is also ignoring The Shift’s questions about whether he will be removing the pool and reverting the field to its original state.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has meanwhile not taken any action against Borg despite the blatant illegality of his actions.

Borg had been responsible for the Planning Authority when he was given an illegal permit to turn a field, which he acquired under extremely dubious circumstances for just €10,000, into his home’s large outside entertainment area and pool.

The courts have twice declared Borg’s permit to have been illegal.

Instead of waiting for the conclusion of a pending appeal against the development, Borg rushed to begin work on the pool in 2020 , knowing full well that the development would most likely be declared illegal at the end of the day.