Dingli road exempt under DNO law because it has been 'schemed' since 1965

PA says road first identified in 1965 is schemed and can be built with exemption for planning permit under DNO law

Moviment Graffitti activists and Dingli residents are opposing the construction of the road outside development zones
Moviment Graffitti activists and Dingli residents are opposing the construction of the road outside development zones

Updated at 3:35pm with Moviment Graffitti statement

A controversial road to link two Dingli alleyways passing through agricultural fields, was permissable by being exempt from seeking planning permit through the DNO subsidiary law, the Planning Authority has declared.

The connecting road, the contested site of a five-day sit-in by Moviment Graffitti activists and opposed by residents of Il-MUSEUM alley and Dahlet is-Sienja, was said to be a “schemed road”, the construction of which did not require a planning permit because it is exempt by the DNO subsidiary legislation.

Infrastructure Malta, together with other state agencies, are exempt from requiring planning permission for a schemed road that is classified as a Class 3 DNO.

“The formation of the road itself would still have been possible following the issue of development permits along its frontage within the development zone as an obligation within the development permit itself to open and form the new road prior to construction works,” the PA said.

The proposed road lies at the edge of the Dingli development zone, and would link the southern edge of Sqaq il-MUSEUM and Dahla tas-Sienja, by extending towards Triq San Gwann Bosco.

The road in question goes back to the 1965 Key Plan, which specifically delineated a road opposite the building area.

This was confirmed in the Temporary Provision Schemes (TPS) that were approved in 1989 which shifted the development zone boundary to pass through the centre of the proposed road.

The 2006 Local Plan retained the development zone boundary as in the TPS, showing the building alignment on the northern side of the road but not defining he southern border of the road. 

Building alignments are identified in the respective local plan maps and define street frontages. Following a request by the Dingli local council  last October, the PA provided an interpretation of the building alignment on the topographic survey. “This interpretation followed the building alignment as shown in the local plan.  To limit the take up of land, the width of the road was limited to 8 metres which is the minimum width of a road in accordance with the subsidiary legislation for new roads and road works regulations,” the PA said.

PA statement proves Infrastructure Malta ‘needs permit’ - Moviment Graffitti

In reaction, Moviment Graffitti said that the Planning Authority’s statement confirmed, “black on white” that Infrastructure Malta needs a planning permit for this road.

“The PA is trying to justify the building of this new road without planning permits, citing a Legal Notice allowing “schemed roads” in Local Plans to go ahead without such permits. However, as can clearly be seen in the Local Plan for the area, the road Infrastructure Malta wants to build does not match with the schemed road in the Local Plan,” the NGO said.

Moviment Graffitti said it was clear the schemed road, as drawn in the local plan, does not go beyond the ODZ line. “However, the road Infrastructure Malta wants to build will take up ODZ land. This means that they came up with a street alignment that is inexistent within the Local Plan, making planning permission necessary,” the NGO said.