[WATCH] Planning appeals reform within three months, new PA CEO promises

Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg has promised to introduce a reform that will pause work on projects appealed by NGOs and other groups for four months.

The pause will be in place while the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) makes a decision. If the EPRT’s decision is further appealed in the courts, the suspension will be extended by an additional three months.

Buttigieg made this commitment in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with MaltaToday. He pledged that this reform would be implemented within the next three months and blamed the delay on the need to consult stakeholders.

At present, the tribunal can only order the suspension of works in very limited circumstances, such as cases involving potential damage to heritage buildings. In most instances, developers are allowed to proceed with works while their permits are still under appeal.

This has led to cases such as ODZ swimming pools in Qala and Sannat, where permits were revoked by the courts after construction had already been completed, forcing owners to apply for sanctioning.

The reform of the appeals system has been under discussion since May 2023, when the Prime Minister first proposed it in his Workers’ Day speech. In September 2023, the Cabinet approved a draft reform to the planning appeals process that would halt works until an appeal is exhausted.

The following month, the government launched a public consultation, which ran until November. The draft legislation issued in 2023 proposed a three-month suspension of works pending the tribunal’s decision.

For projects considered of strategic importance by the Minister for Planning, the decision will be made within one month. Currently, appeals are rarely resolved that quickly, with some taking over a year to be decided.

At the time, environmental NGOs welcomed the long-awaited measures but expressed concerns about the tight deadlines. They warned that shorter appeal periods could put unnecessary pressure on the tribunal, appellants, and witnesses.

Meanwhile, the Malta Developers Association (MDA) and Kamra tal-Periti (KTP) supported the reform but insisted that it should only be implemented if the timeframes for both tribunal decisions and court judgments were also shortened.

The KTP also called for a strict three-month time limit for the appeals process at both the tribunal and court levels. It has proposed procedural changes to expedite proceedings, including accepting evidence through affidavits and depositions rather than requiring in-person testimony during tribunal hearings.

Furthermore, the MDA has also suggested that all testimonies be heard in a single sitting, rather than in multiple hearings, to improve efficiency.