The following is a statement from attorneys for the Cliff Restaurant, Faye Finisterre and Christine Toppin-Allahar:
There are renovations and improvements ongoing at one of the properties occupied by the Cliff and used for its operations. That development is consistent with previous permission that had been granted for a larger scale development which had not gotten underway by the time the permission expired.
In April this year, a renewed application for a scaled down project was made to the Town and Country Planning Department’s office for approval. It must be borne in mind that when persons are investing money in construction presumptively, they do so within the confines of the law and they can expect some predictability given the provisions of the law. The time contemplated by the law for a decision to be made and communicated by an applicant is two months; yet no decision has been received.
Without having received a decision on the matter, the Cliff did receive notices in July 2014 during ongoing work. Given that scenario, the Cliff applied for retention which is also contemplated by the law. Even if you start a development you can ask for retrospective permission by way of a retention application to regularise that development.
