Bajja Developments filed a protest against MEPA, the Rural Affairs and Environment Minister and Veronica Zammit Tabona regarding its application to turn Villa Cassar Torreggiani in St Julian’s into a hotel.

The protest said that the permit was issued years later and

stipulated the measures Bajja Developments was to take in realisation of this project. The villa in question was adjacent to two houses MEPA had graded as buildings which could not be demolished due to their historical value.

The complainant accused MEPA of abuse, seeing that after Veronica Zammit Tabona submitted an application to develop one of these two houses, the authority announced it had made a mistake in the grading of the houses adjacent to Villa Cassar Torreggiani and said that they are actually grade 3, which meant that certain developments could be carried out.

In view of this, Bajja Developments claimed it was discriminated against and suffered financially. The authority had imposed several conditions in its development plans for the villa and the company claimed it invested thousands of liri into complying with them.

Bajja Developments asked MEPA not to issue the permit Ms Zammit Tabona applied for and demanded to be compensated the large sums of money it spent in relation to this matter.

The protest was filed in the First Hall of Civil Court by Dr Michael Sciriha and Dr Joanne Vella Cuschieri.