NGO slams rural policies for ‘promoting construction in countryside’

Environmental organisation Din l-Art Helwa criticised the recently adopted Rural Policy and Design Guidelines for promoting construction in the countryside.
“We are in favour of the reuse and rehabilitation of existing legally built buildings for farming and agricultural purposes, such as wineries, olive oil production and honey making,” a Din l-Art Helwa statement said. “However, the newly adopted policy actually promotes construction in rural areas.”
The environmental NGO said that Special Areas of Conservation and of High Landscape Value are now also endangered as the rural policy leaves room for building to occur in previously schedules areas. 

“We are particularly concerned with the extent of the concreting of fields and country paths, which will automatically stem from construction,” the NGO said. “

“The most serious threat to rural areas though is the Agritourism Policy 4.4 which allows the possibility of a new build up area to a total area of 400sqm without specifying a maximum building height,” the NGO said. “This may result in our natural topography being peppered with 2 and 3 storey new buildings.” 
“These new guidelines ridicule the very concept of Out of Developpment Zones and make a mockery of MEPA’s own introductory statement which asserts that they have been drawn up ‘to ensure proper conservation and management of the countryside for both present and future generations’,” Din l-Art Helwa said. “This government is facilitating the wishes of development lobby groups at the expense of Malta’s natural landscape.”

“We call on the Environment Minister to explain how these new guidelines can possible be called environmental governance and how environmental protection will be guaranteed when the new Planning and Environment agencies will sit within different ministries.”