PN says separate planning appeals consultation needed to scrutinise bill

The Nationalist Party has defended its decision to launch a separate consultation on planning appeals reform after the government's consultation closed, saying it wants to assess how the proposed legislation would work in practice. 

The long-awaited reform would suspend development works while planning appeals are being decided. 

PN planning spokesperson Rebekah Borg told MaltaToday the party fully supports the reform and has been urging government to advance it for years and that the consultation is meant to ensure that the reform does not have any unintended consequences. 

Asked why the PN had not submitted its feedback during the government's formal consultation, and why it had instead launched its own process immediately after that consultation ended, Borg said the Opposition's role was not simply to participate in a government consultation. 

PN spokesperson Rebekah Borg

She said the PN's responsibility was to scrutinise the bill eventually presented to parliament, including any changes made following the official consultation, propose amendments at committee stage and vote on the legislation. 

Asked whether a separate consultation was necessary given the broad consensus on the urgency of the reform, Borg said the PN wanted to hear directly from those affected about how the provisions would operate in practice, whether they could have unintended consequences and whether amendments were required. 

She pointed out that environmental NGOs had already identified aspects of the bill they believed could be improved. 

The party’s position comes despite broad support for the reform among environmental organisations that opposed last year's planning legislation. 

The Ġustizzja għal Artna campaign, which brought together 10 environmental NGOs and led protests against last year's planning bills, has welcomed the current proposal. 

It has described suspending development works for the duration of an appeal and improving the appeals process as its central demands, while urging government to enact the reform without last-minute changes that could weaken it. 

Borg said this broad support did not prevent the PN from proposing amendments. 

“Broad agreement on the urgency of reform does not preclude amendments to the Bill, nor should it result in further delay,” she said. 

Asked whether the PN's consultation could itself result in further delay, Borg said it would close a couple of weeks before parliament reconvenes in October, leaving sufficient time for the party to complete its work without delaying the parliamentary process. 

The PN is also calling for the bill to be given priority and brought to second reading as soon as parliament resumes. 

Student groups flag Cabinet loophole 

Twenty-five student organisations have recently welcomed the bill but have raised concerns about a provision allowing Cabinet to lift the automatic suspension of development in cases deemed to be of “strategic significance” or in the “national interest”. 

They argued that this could allow ministers to override the protection the reform is intended to provide and called for the provision to be removed. 

The organisations welcomed the automatic suspension of development while an appeal is pending, describing it as the “bare minimum” for a fair planning appeals system. 

Il-Kollettiv warns of developer lobbying 

Il-Kollettiv has welcomed the reform's central principle but criticised the PN for opening a second consultation after the government's process had ended. 

It warned that this could give developers another opportunity to lobby against the changes and potentially delay their implementation. 

The Malta Development Association (MDA) has expressed concerns that the proposed planning appeals reform draft contains ambiguities that could lead to "weaponized delays" and blackmail risks for developers.  

The association urged for a cross-party consensus to ensure fairness, arguing that the current draft creates an unjust imbalance against legitimate property owners. 

Labour criticises PN timing 

The Labour Party has also criticised the PN for not participating in the government's consultation and launching its own after the official process had concluded. 

But the PN rejects the suggestion that its initiative will delay reform. 

Borg said the party's position on the central issue was clear: development permits should be automatically suspended once an appeal is filed and remain suspended until the appeal is concluded. 

She said the PN's consultation would focus on whether that suspension is genuinely effective, whether exceptions could undermine the right of appeal, and whether the proposed deadlines and resources for the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal and courts are adequate. “It is needed, and it is long overdue,” Borg said of the reform.