New Stucture Plan ‘far cry from 1990’ – Church environment commission

The new structure plan developed by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority has received a general thumbs down and the Church’s environment commission is latest organisation to come out against the review.

According to the Kummissjoni Interdjocesana Ambjent (KA), the policy outlined in the document fails to be an adequate replacement for the 1990 Structure Plan: a shorter timeframe with 2020 as its target and its failure to provide official statistical information justifying its policies and proposals.

“Moreover, notwithstanding the extension of the period of consultation, there has been no real attempt to motivate the general public to participate,” the commission said.

The Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) is intended to replace the 1990 structure plan for the Maltese Islands.

The KA did welcome the SPED’s attempt to clearly address the social dimension in socio-economic development and insisted that the management of environmental resources and sustainable development should be officially undertaken by the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD).

According to the KA, the SPED lacks a clear plan of action with clear informed policies, set deadlines and an indication of whoever will be responsible for its implementation.

“As regards land use, the KA fails to see valid reasons justifying the ‘minor adjustments’ to the Development Zone boundaries when the supply of dwelling units is much greater than the demand,” the Church’s commission said. “KA cannot understand why SPED proposes no tangible and strict policies to control the unsustainability of local land development.”

While agreeing with the general principles of the National Spatial Strategy, the KA expressed strong reservations about the proviso made in the same section, allowing the Government to bypass established policies.

“The KA commends SPED for highlighting the link between health and the environment in issues related to development. But it sadly notes that the document does not even refer to the hazards caused by the fireworks industry.”

It slammed the document for a statement referring to the urgency of commissioning specific studies relating to the issue, when local research on the health hazards related to fireworks residue was already available. The SPED, the KA insisted, even minimised the important role of education by not even referring to this issue.

“The Government must learn from past experiences and use SPED and any review of planning legislation to remove ambiguous and ill-advised regulations and policies that have allowed individuals and organisations to profit from resultant loopholes,” the Church’s commission said.

The commission also urged government to be transparent and publish the names of all those responsible in the compilation of such documents.

“The sensitivity of documents like SPED cannot be underestimated since what is written in them will directly affect what happens on the ground. The SPED, in its current version, falls short of guaranteeing a solid step in practising sustainable development at this level.”