Ten NGOs gather in front of Castille to demand four amendments to planning rules

Ten environmental NGOs who form part of a coalition known as the Ġustizzja Għal Artna campaign gathered in front of Castille earlier on Saturday to demand four specific amendments to Malta’s planning regime which would serve as “general principles that should be included in any reform aimed at serving the common good”.

The campaigners, who were responsible for organising the massive protests against the government’s ongoing efforts to neuter what’s left of the country’s environmental and planning safeguards, reiterated their longstanding demand for construction works to be suspended when approved planning permits are under appeal.

In their press conference, the coalition further stated that the Planning Authority (PA) must start to act immediately to remove illegal developments at the offenders’ expense and that the PA should prohibit the sanctioning of any illegalities committed in Outside Development Zones (ODZ).

“All areas of agricultural, natural, social, and historical value that were removed from the ODZ in 2006, and which have not yet been legally committed to development through approved applications, should be reclassified as ODZ and protected from construction,” the organisations added.

In July of last year, the government attempted to quietly amend planning laws via Bills 143 and 144 and three legal notices, a process which “would effectively dismantle almost all existing safeguards within the planning system and lead to the regularisation of all kinds of illegalities”, the coalition noted.

Following two massive protests against the proposed planning bills in October last year, the government began stalling on its so-called ‘reform’, with no real updates provided by Prime Minister Robert Abela as to the status of legislative proposals which his government promised to revise.

The coalition’s four proposals draw on years of collective experience in fighting against illegal development, which the planning regime often tends to regularise rather than punish.

On Tuesday, The Shift published a news report highlighting one glaring instance in which the PA failed to enforce against blatant illegalities and is now set to review a sanctioning application.

In comments shared with this website, another popular grassroots campaign known as Manoel Island: Post Għalina, which also features many of the NGOs behind the Ġustizzja Għal Artna campaign, raised concerns about how the PA’s Enforcement & Compliance Unit failed to take action about an illegally built padel complex, opting instead to allow the applicant to try and sanction illegal development on the contested site.

In a document published during Saturday’s press conference, the Ġustizzja Għal Artna campaign explained how these kinds of loopholes in planning law allow for “numerous cases where development works are completed or nearly completed by the time their permits are found to have been issued irregularly by the PA and revoked by the Courts”.

“In such instances, the building becomes illegal; however, effective enforcement action is not taken to remove it. Instead, this often leads to further illegal maneuvers aimed at securing retrospective sanctioning,” the document adds.

To resolve this issue, the coalition is proposing that all permits should be suspended while under assessment. In conjunction with the proposal to prohibit sanctioning illegalities on ODZ land and to force the PA to remove illegalities entirely, the coalition’s proposals would heavily restrict the loopholes currently available to bad actors who wish to develop first and sanction later.

Though the demands are entirely reasonable when framed in that context, the government’s decision to slow-walk the process ahead of the general elections suggests it is unlikely that the Prime Minister will bow to pressure to change the government’s proposed legislative amendments anytime soon.

The organisations involved in Ġustizzja Għal Artna include BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent, Għawdix, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust, Ramblers’ Association of Malta, and Wirt Għawdex.