A court yesterday turned down a request filed by Sliema residents to stop the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board from processing applications for development overlooking St Anne Square during a board meeting scheduled for yesterday morning.

The First Hall of the Civil Court was presided over by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef.

Residents whose homes overlook St Anne Square in Sliema asked the court to issue a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop Mepa from processing two applications.

The applications had been submitted by the developer of a proposed block of apartments overlooking the square.

The first application (PA 1176/00) requested the extension of a commercial outlet onto St Anne Square. A permit to this application had originally been granted but was later withdrawn after the Mepa board found that the developer had submitted incorrect information. The board decided that the developer was to submit a fresh set of plans to be evaluated in yesterday’s meeting.

On 8 June, when the Mepa board revoked the original permit, the developer submitted a second application (PA 3706/06) requesting the sanctioning of irregularities on site.

However, the residents claimed, the second application did not ask for the sanctioning of all irregular work.

In its reply Mepa said it was inconceivable that the residents would ask that the authority did not process an application.

The residents, Mepa said, had other remedies at hand as they could apply to the Appeal’s Board.

When the first application was first decided on, in November 2001, the residents had not raised any objections. In the decision taken on 8 June this year, Mepa decided that it was willing to reconsider the application as modified and publicly declared that there would be a public meeting in which it was to be decided whether the revised application conformed with Mepa’s requirements.

In a decision handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Micallef ruled that after examining all the documents exhibited and the applicable law, the warrant was not the only protection that could be availed of by the residents. He further stated that not all the elements required at law for the issue of this warrant were present in this case and dismissed the residents’ request.

Dr Joseph Ellis represented the residents while Dr Ian Stafrace represented Mepa.