Student organisations warn of Cabinet loophole in planning reform

A group of 25 student organisations welcomed the upcoming reform of the planning appeals system, but insisted it represents only “the bare minimum” that any fair system owes the people who use it.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the organisations praised the reform for addressing a long-standing injustice that has allowed development permits to be acted upon while they are still under appeal.

Under the proposed reform, works would be automatically suspended once a qualifying appeal is filed and would remain suspended until the case is decided.

"We will not pretend that this is a great concession," the organisations said. 'It should have never been otherwise, and it has taken far too long to arrive."

However, they warned against what they described as the quiet changes that often appear in legislation to accommodate powerful interests, pointing to a provision already included in the draft reform.

As currently drafted, the reform would allow Cabinet to lift the automatic suspension of works in individual cases, enabling a development to proceed while an appeal is ongoing.

The organisations noted that this power would not be limited to exceptional circumstances, but could also apply to developments ministers consider to be of "strategic significance" or in the "national interest." They noted that this could include projects involving government interests or cases where the State itself is the applicant.

Such broad categories, they argued, would effectively depend on ministerial discretion and could encompass some of the country’s largest and most contested projects, including developments requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment.

The organisations therefore called for the provision to be removed, insisting that a safeguard which the executive can lift at will is "a protection with a hole at its centre."

Beyond the appeals reform, the statement also called for more effective enforcement against illegal development.

The organisations said planning breaches are often met with fines that cost less than the profits generated by the development, while illegalities are sometimes regularised after the fact. This, they argued, risks turning breaches of planning rules into little more than another cost of doing business.

They also criticised what they described as the over-centralisation of Malta’s planning system, saying decision-making and influence remain concentrated within national authorities.

In this context, the organisations called for robust accountability mechanisms to accompany any proposed changes to the system, including administrative reforms, digitisation and Cabinet’s overriding powers.

They said there must be clear measures through which those responsible for policy decisions can be held accountable, arguing that many planning policies have been written to serve development interests rather than the communities that have to live with their consequences.

The organisations concluded by framing planning reform as particularly important for younger generations, stressing that many of the decisions taken under today’s planning regime are permanent.

"A building does not come down. Open space, once lost, does not return," they said. "It is younger generations who will live longest with what is approved today, and who have the smallest say in approving it. The Malta being built today is the Malta the youth will spend their lives in."

The statement was signed by Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent, Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ, Kunsill Studenti Universitarji, Students For Liberty Malta, Għaqda Studenti tal-Liġi, Association of Students of Commercial Studies, Moviment Żgħażagħ Partit Nazzjonalista, Kunsill Studenti MCAST, European Law Students Association, Earth Systems Association, Young European Federalists Malta, Student Demokristjani Maltin, Junior Chamber of Advocates, European Studies Organisation, LGBTI+ Gozo, Għaqda tal-Malti Università, Betapsi, Kollettiv Żgħażagħ EkoXellugin, and Għaqda Studenti tat-Teoloġija.