Cycling facilities should benefit from MEPA fund reform: FOE

MEPA is currently discussing a reform which could see the €8 million-rich Commuted Parking Payment Scheme (CPPS) integrated in the broader UIF fund.

The proposed reform has been criticised by developers, who claim it is diverting funds from the original aim of building more car parks to other aims, such as embellishment and landscaping projects.

But FOE welcomes the proposed reform of MEPA’s funding schemes as this establishes a stronger link between funding and “national or regional needs” and ensures that “important concerns are placed higher on the national agenda.”

The  reform blueprint issued for public consultation last week sets a January 2012 cut-off date for subsuming the CPPS fund in to the UIF fund.

This would mean that the €8 million raised by MEPA’s Commuted Parking Payment Scheme (CPPS) paid by developers who could not provide parking in their developments, will be integrated in to the Urban Improvement Fund which already has a balance of €5 million.

Furthermore, 10% of the money contained in both funds will be deposited in a new Environment Improvement Fund (EIF) aimed at funding national projects in which the Office of the Prime Minister and MEPA “will reserve specific priorities.”

Unlike the CPPS fund, whose scope is restricted to funding car parks and public transport facilities, the UIF can be used for a variety of projects which include gardens and landscaping areas, playing fields, traffic management schemes, street lighting, street furniture and green Transport modes.

FOE spokesperson Martin Galea De Giovanni now suggests widening the scope of the Urban Improvement Fund to include projects related to the setting up of cycling facilities such as cycle parking, shelters, racks and bike and ride facilities located close to bus stops and interchanges.

Such an investment would mirror that made in cities like London, which have invested £125 million on a bike sharing scheme which includes 5,000 ‘boris bikes’ (nicknamed after mayor Boris Johnson) and 400 bike docks. 

Malta lags behind all European countries as regards the number of people who commute to work on bike, a recent European wide survey showed.

Galea De Giovanni points out that then scope of the CPPS fund originally restricted to fund car parks, was already broadened in 2003 to  include public transport facilities.

“In this way we would be broadening its scope again by linking the funding to reduction in emissions, better air quality and less cars on the road, whilst encouraging a mix of transport modes.”

According to MEPA grant decisions will be made by the UIF Committee, whose composition “may be broadened to include a representative of NGOs.”

But FOE is insisting that the NGO representative should be chosen in democratic way by the NGOs themselves. To ensure greater transparency FOE is proposing that MEPA publishes the grounds for selection of selected projects on its website.

Alongside the UIF another fund called “The Environment Improvement Fund” (EIF) will be set up fund projects of national importance. 

The EIF will be financed from planning gain contributions on major projects, from forfeited bank guarantees, and from 10% of Urban Improvement Fund. MEPA and the Office of the Prime Minister will be given a priority in the allocation of money from the fund.

FOE is insisting that other potential  applicants like NGOs and Local Councils should be informed on the estimated percentage of funds which will be reserved for MEPA and OPM “so that they have an idea of the range of funds available”.

The Local Councils Association is still assessing the proposals, association president Michael Cohen told MaltaToday. “One still has to see whether funds collected for a particular purpose can be used for other purposes.”

Cohen is also adamant that funds collected in a particular locality should only be used in that particular locality. “One cannot collect funds in St Julian's and invest these same funds in a project in Kalkara.”

The assimilation of the CPPS fund in to the UIF was also criticized by the Malta Developers Association. “Using CPPS funds for projects other than what they were intended for is tantamount to MEPA having collected moneys under false pretences,” Malta Developers Association President Michael Falzon told MaltaToday last Sunday.