The Planning Authority has said that the Dingli road works that have been at the heart of controversy this past week do not require a planning permit, however NGO Moviment Graffitti has said that a statement issued by the same authority, says otherwise.

In a statement today, the PA gave an explanation of the situation.

"The Authority would like to point out that the proposed road lies at the edge of the development zone of the locality of Dingli in accordance with the Local Plan, and defines the boundary between the development zone and outside development zone respectively. This new schemed road links the southern edge of two schemed roads, namely Sqaq il-MUSEUM and Dahla tas-Sienja, which are partly formed, and extends towards Triq San Gwann Bosco."

The road in question goes back to the 1965 Key Plan, which specifically delineated a road opposite the building area, the PA said. "This was confirmed in the Temporary Provision Schemes (TPS) that were approved in 1989 which shifted the Development Zone Boundary to pass through the centre of the proposed road."

"The 2006 Local Plan retained the Development Zone Boundary as in the TPS. It showed the building alignment on the northern side of the road but did not define the southern border of the road.  Building alignments are identified in the respective local plan maps and define street frontages.  In this regard, following a request by the Dingli Local Council last October, the Planning Authority provided an interpretation of the building alignment on the topographic survey. This interpretation followed the building alignment as shown in the local plan.  To limit the take up of land, the width of the road was limited to 8 metres which is the minimum width of a road in accordance with the subsidiary legislation for new roads and road works regulations."

"As regards road works, the Authority would like to clarify that Infrastructure Malta, together with other state agencies, are exempt from requiring planning permission to carry out specific type of development as indicated in the Development Notification Order (DNO), as per subsidiary legislation 552.08. In this regard the formation of road in accordance with a development scheme is considered as permitted development as specified by Class 3 of the DNO."

The Authority reiterates that the road works in this part of Dingli form part of a scheme road and said that no permit was therefore required. "Its pertinent to state as well that the formation of the road itself would still have been possible following the issue of development permits along its frontage within the development zone as an obligation within the development permit itself to open and form the new road prior to construction works. Lastly, both Infrastructure Malta and Dingli Local Council respectively approached the Authority for the correct interpretation of facts with regards the development plan and the respective building and road alignments."

PA statement confirms planning permit is needed for Infrastructure Malta road in Dingli ODZ - NGO

Referring to the Planning Authority's statement, Moviment Graffitti said that the PA's statement confirms, "black on white, that Infrastructure Malta needs a planning permit for this road."

"The PA is trying to justify the building of this new road without planning permits, citing a Legal Notice allowing 'schemed roads' in Local Plans to go ahead without such permits. However, as can clearly be seen in the Local Plan for the area, the road Infrastructure Malta wants to build does not match with the schemed road in the Local Plan."

"It is clear that the schemed road, as drawn in the Local Plan, does not go beyond the ODZ line (white part beyond red line). However, the road Infrastructure Malta wants to take up ODZ land. This means that they came up with a street alignment that is inexistent within the Local Plan, making a planning permission necessary."