The Ombudsman has found that 36 stables were approved in recent years for horses already covered by another permit for other stables. The investigation also revealed that the number of stables in out-of-development areas approved by the PA since 2016 was “excessive”.In 2023, Times of Malta reported that, according to industry sources, agricultural landowners have found a loophole that allows them to register horses they do not own and apply for a permit to build stables, leading to multiple stables being registered on the same horse.Applications for the development of horse stables in ODZ require an official declaration of horse ownership or registration.Times of Malta was back then told it has become practice to sell the passport of a deceased horse to a prospective applicant for the development of stables. The same passport is then used for multiple applications for stables.A separate practice sees horse owners transferring their horses – on paper only – to prospective horse stable applicants. The latter apply for a horse stable but the horses are never physically transferred to them. In 2024, the Commissioner for Environment and Planning, within the office of the Ombudsman, launched a comprehensive Own Initiative Investigation looking into permits issued for stables since the implementation of the Rural Policy and Design Guidance in 2014.An Own Initiative Investigation means that the Ombudsman’s Office is looking into an issue on its own steam without waiting for a member of the public to file a complaint.On Tuesday the office said it had concluded that the number of stables in ODZ that have been approved by the PA since 2016 was “excessive, against the spirit of SPED and definitely unsustainable”. Furthermore, the PA failed to control compliance with the conditions the PA itself imposed in the same permits, the office added.According to the ombudsman’s investigation, the PA does not check whether the equine was already registered under a previous permit – so much so that 36 stables were permitted for equines that already had a permit in their name.In two instances, the commissioner adds, three permits were issued for the same equine and other permits referred to equine details that are illegible.1022 stables approved in eight yearsThe commissioner found that between 2016 and 2024, the PA approved a total of 1,022 stables in 298 separate permits.39 of these permits sanctioned 137 stables that were already constructed.There are a further 88 applications for 328 stables (including 16 applications to sanction 61 stables) awaiting a decision by the Planning Authority and 10 applications for 50 stables (including one application to sanction five stables) awaiting a decision by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.Almost all of these permits approved the construction of new stables in ODZ.No permits for the change of use from stables to dwellings were traced.What the commissioner recommended:1. PA should make sure no application for
Ancheta Ombudsman confirmă aprobarea mai multor grajduri pentru același cal
