Guardian of Future Generations calls for policy rethink on land use

Concerned by the prospects of construction spreading into unbuilt rural and coastal areas, increased building heights and still-undefined land reclamation projects, the members of the "Guardian of Future Generations" have called for current policy initiatives related to land use and construction to be put on hold until they can be integrated in a strategic vision for the next two decades.

"Unbuilt space and unspoilt views are among the scarcest resources of our densely populated country," said Michael Zammit Cutajar, who chairs the four-member commission established by the unanimously-adopted Sustainable Development Act of 2012.

"In the interest of the future, these precious resources must be safeguarded now against unwarranted and irreversible intrusion," the former United Nations diplomat, who set up the secretariat for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Guardian members said that a comprehensive strategy could be worked out through public consultation and debate by the end of 2014, drawing on economic, social and environmental assessments of different options for urban and rural development.

"Once the strategy is in place, all planning policies would be reviewed to ensure that they are in conformity with it," Zammit Cutajar said.

The general mandate of the Guardian of Future Generations is to advocate sustainable development in public debate and in government policy, aiming to keep Malta's long-term economic, social and environmental interests in focus.  The members of the commission are former Central Bank governor Michael C. Bonello, Victim Support Malta director Roberta Lepre, Din l-Art Helwa president Simone Mizzi, and former ambassador on climate change Michael Zammit Cutajar.

In accordance with its mandate, the Guardian's views were expressed in a submission to the Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Leo Brincat, whose ministry has been assigned the responsibility for implementing the Sustainable Development Act. The submission was also sent to the Prime Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and the Chairperson of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.