PN calls on the government to withdraw draft planning proposals and hold consultation process

The Nationalist Party has submitted a formal response to the Government’s proposed amendments to the planning system, warning that the changes have been through without consultation after years of neglect.

“The Government must immediately withdraw these draft amendments and launch a serious process of genuine, open consultation, including the publication of scientific evidence and impact assessments for any potential changes,” Stanley Zammit, Shadow Minister for Planning and Lands, and Rebekah Borg, Shadow Minister for the Environment, said in a statement on Friday.

They stressed that the Opposition has long argued that any reform of the planning must be “serious, transparent, fair, holistic, and based on scientific evidence with consultation.” Instead, the PN said, the Labour Government’s amendments will weaken the system, reduce citizens’ rights, give excessive powers to the Minister, and encourage abuse and illegality.

The proposed reforms, Bill 143 and Bill 144, came in the middle of summer and will make it harder for building permits to be overturned on appeal.

Bill 143 would hand powers to the Planning Authority, effectively undermining local plans and paving the way for development across the country, whilst Bill 144, presented as a reform of the appeals process, would make it harder for citizens to challenge decisions, creating new obstacles and taking away the Court’s ability to revoke permits.

The PN’s submission warns that the proposed changes carry serious risks, highlighting that the reforms “undermine the hierarchy of law, eroding public confidence in the planning system, restricting access to information, and opening the door to regularisation and amnesty of illegalities, even in ODZ areas.”

The party said the aim should be to restore certainty, predictability and justice, not to allow more room for interpretation, arbitrariness and abuse.

In its submission, the PN proposed the introduction of a formal mechanism of impartial mediation and clarification between the Authority, applicants, objectors, NGOs, internal and external consultees, local councils and citizens. This would help resolve issues early, avoid confrontation, and reduce costs and delays for all parties.

The Opposition also raised concern that environmental and sanitary considerations are being sidelined, weakening the role of the environment in the planning process. The result, it warned, would be more uncontrolled construction, less protection of natural and urban spaces, and a poorer quality of life.

The PN said it will continue to put forward a concrete alternative vision for planning reform that places people and the environment at the centre, while ensuring that laws are applied with fairness, transparency, and accountability.