Development Planning Act (Cap. 552), article 57

57. (1) A list of: (a) areas, buildings, structures and remains of geological, palaeontological, cultural, archaeological, architectural, historical, antiquarian, artistic or landscape importance, (hereinafter referred to as "scheduled property") shall be prepared by the Executive Council and scheduled for conservation through a scheduling order; and (b) areas of natural beauty, of ecological or scientific value (hereinafter also referred to as "scheduled property") shall be prepared by the Malta Environment Authority and scheduled by the Executive Council for conservation through a scheduling order: Provided that the Executive Council may in respect of all or any one or more of the scheduled property also make conservatio n orders to regulate their conservation: Provided further that upon the issue of a scheduling order the owner shall have the right to immediate access at reasonabl e times to all documentation of the Authority concerning the scheduling order for the purpose of studying the relative findings and considerations. (2) The list of scheduling orders, and any additions or amendments thereto, shall be published in the Gazette and in a local newspaper. The Executive Council shall also notify any one of the owners of any property subject to a scheduling order of the fact of its inclusion in the list and of any conservation order made with respect to it. Notice of such scheduling order shall also be affixed on site. If none of such owners is known, or if it is n ot reasonably possible to effect service on such owners, the said notice shall only be affixed on site and no service on such owners as aforesaid need be made. Notice of such scheduling order shal l be registered in an index held for that purpose which index identi fies the property subject to that order. The said index shall be hel d in an electronic form in such a way that researches to determine whet her DEVELOPMENT PLANNING [CAP. 552. 37 a property is subject to such an order may be carried out. The Executive Council shall keep a copy of the said index in the of fice of the Land Registry and shall issue a certificate which indica tes whether a particular property is subject to the said order on t he payment of such fee as may be prescribed. (3) Where the Executive Council has issued a conservation order in terms of this article, it shall register the said prop erty in the index mentioned in sub-article (2) indicating the said property as having been issued with a conservation order, and the provision s of the said sub-article concerning the indexing of scheduling orde rs shall mutatis mutandis apply. The list of conservation orders, and any additions or amendments thereto, shall be published in the Gazette and in a local newspaper. (4) For the purposes of sub-articles (2) and (3), "site" means a single property or more than one property, irrespective of who is the owner of that property, which forms part of the land which is scheduled or which is subject to a conservation order in terms of this article. (5) The carrying on of any work in, and the demolition, alteration or extension of, any scheduled property is prohibite d or restricted as provided in this article or in the relative conse rvation order. (6) No works of any description shall be carried out in or on any scheduled property and no scheduled property shall be demolished, altered or extended except with the permission of the Planning Board, granted on an application made to it and giving such details as the Planning Board may require or in accordance with the provisions of a conservation order, and for the purpose of this article, damage to or destruction of any part of a schedul ed property shall be deemed to be a demolition thereof: Provided that a scheduling order or a conservation order shall not adversely affect development already legally carried out before the coming into force of this Act or development already granted by a development permission under this Act, before the scheduling order or conservation order is issued. (7) A permission granted by the Planning Board or a conservation order made by the Executive Council under this article may contain such conditions and other provisions as the Authority may deem necessary or expedient, and a conservation order may regulate any matter affecting scheduled property. (8) In respect of any scheduled property subject to a conservation order, the Executive Council shall also have power to require the owner, by notice in writing, to undertake such work s generally, or as may be specified in such notice as may be necessary to ensure that no further deterioration occurs. In default, the Executive Council may give a further notice to the owner to carry out and complete the works within a specified time, and if the owner is still in default it may itself carry out, or cause to be carried out, the necessary works and recover the cost thereof f rom the owner of the scheduled property. (9) If any scheduled property is demolished in contravention of 38 [CAP. 552. DEVELOPMENT PLANNING any of the provisions of this article, then, in addition to any penalty or other effect under this Act, every person convicted of such offence shall be liable to pay compensation to the Authority calculated on the basis of whichever is the highest of the following: (a) the value of the thing destroyed, (b) the cost of restoration or repair, (c) the financial benefit which could be achieved as a consequence of the demolition. (10) An owner of scheduled property may request the reconsideration of any scheduling of his property. Such request shall be entered in writing with the Executive Council within t hirty days of notification or publication in the Gazette of the sched uling order, whichever is the later, and the Executive Council shall decide within three months of receipt of such request. Cap. 551. (11) Any person who feels aggrieved by a decision of the Executive Council under this article may appeal to the Tribunal for a revocation or modification of such a decision according to th e provisions of the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act. Cap. 551. (12) Notwithstanding the right to appeal before the Tribunal as established by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act, an appeal to the Tribunal from a scheduling of property or the descheduling of property or its downgrading in the protection afforded by the scheduling or the issue of a conservation order shall not stay the execution of such scheduling or conservation order . Emergency conservation order.