An appeals court has reportedly rendered Foreign Minister Ian Borg’s infamous swimming pool illegal, slamming the Planning Authority for repeatedly breaching policies.

After a multiple-year saga, the development has been officially labelled as illegal by the court. 

On top of all that, the court has heavily criticised the Planning Authority for failing to stick to 2006 Local Plan policies, given they’ve always stipulated that such development would not be allowed within the area.

The disputed plans saw Borg build a pool area near his Rabat home, which lies in the rural zone of Santa Katerina – which falls within the ODZ (outside the development zone).

Lovin Malta reached out to Borg on the matter, who said that he has no public comments to give at the moment. 

Borg’s pool and home plans have continuously stoked controversy since 2013 after he obtained permission to turn a broken-down building in an ODZ field into his home.

While he had obtained permission in 2018 to build the pool, the plans were overturned on appeal. However, Borg had reapplied once again, by filing a new application.

While the new plans only featured slight modifications, the PA once again granted it. But now the appeals court has once again stepped in and ruled the development illegal.

What do you make of this latest judgement?