PA scrambling to approve permits to bypass new appeals rules

The Planning Authority is scrambling to approve as many major development permits as possible before the government introduces the long-awaited new rules automatically suspending permits under appeal, according to information obtained by The Shift.

The government’s proposed reform establishes that when a permit is challenged before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, development cannot start or continue until the appeal is finally determined.

Yet the proposed legislation contains a significant transitional provision: the new rules will only apply to appeals concerning permits decided on or after the law comes into force.

Permits approved before that date – including those already under appeal- will continue to be governed by the existing regime. This allows developers to begin and even complete projects while an appeal challenging their permit remains pending, unless the tribunal separately orders the works to stop.

The Shift is informed that, under the direction of Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg, the authority has accelerated the processing and approval of several controversial projects during the summer.

PA sources said the intention is to ensure that these permits remain subject to the existing regime and escape the automatic suspension that will apply once the new law takes effect.

The accelerated process is mostly intended to appease some of the country’s largest developers, mostly donors to the Labour Party, according to sources familiar with developments at the authority.

The Planning Authority normally operates at a slower pace during the summer months. This year, however, it has continued processing and approving an unusually high number of significant applications.

Recent controversial decisions include approval for the demolition of the former Buskett Forest and its replacement with a 54-room elderly care home next to protected woodland, the approval of illegal pools by Joseph Portelli in Sannat, the transformation of Villa Buleben in Żebbuġ, as well as the sanctioning of 20 illegally developed padel courts and another 10 new courts at Manoel Island in Gżira.

Other controversial applications already processed include a large development replacing the Burmarrad Commercials complex in Burmarrad and further amendments to the Townsquare development in Sliema.

Other ‘big’ projects are also in the pipeline and expected to be approved before the new law comes into force, the sources said.

Under the current system, when appeals are filed, developers may continue implementing the permits as proceedings drag on, potentially creating a fait accompli before the tribunal or Court of Appeal delivers a final judgment.

In its consultation document, the government acknowledges that an appeal can become practically worthless when excavation, demolition or construction takes place before the case is decided. It therefore proposes automatically suspending a contested permit from the moment an appeal is filed.

However, the proposed legislation also gives Cabinet the power to override the automatic suspension in certain cases referred to it by the minister under Article 78 of the Development Planning Act.

The Cabinet would be able to decide that the suspension should not apply, or that it should be varied, limited or made subject to conditions. It could also establish how all, or part of a development permit may be implemented while the appeal remains pending.

The government says such an intervention must be justified by the public-interest grounds already listed in the law, be necessary and proportionate, and not give an unjustified advantage to a particular person.

The Cabinet’s intervention could be challenged before the Court of Appeal within 10 days. Crucially, however, filing a challenge would not automatically suspend the Cabinet’s decision. The court would have to issue a specific interim order to stop or limit it.

The proposed reform has not yet been enacted, and the minister may bring different provisions into force on different dates. This gives the Planning Authority a window in which to approve more applications before the automatic suspension mechanism becomes applicable.

As a result, projects pushed through before the cut-off date could continue for years under the very system the government has now acknowledged makes planning appeals ineffective.