MEPA rejects ‘marine’ proposal from Planning Ombudsman

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has effectively shot down a recommendation by Planning Ombudsman David Pace for a specific policy regulating the development of the coast and surrounding seas.

The ombudsman's proposal would be similar to the local plans, which state which kind of development is permissible in terrestrial areas.

But the Authority insists that the regulation of marine and coastal development forms an integral part of the revision of the structure plan commenced by the previous government in February 2012.

Accepting the ombudsman's proposal would have ensured that the government's more specific plans for land reclamation, offshore energy infrastructure, yacht marinas and cruise terminals would be subjected to a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment as required by EU law.

The government has already issued a call for expression of interest in land reclamation projects in the absence of any planning guidelines and studies on the wider environmental, economic and social impacts of this policy.

As things stand, no SEA can take place on these plans because neither the government nor any other public authority has drafted a written document. But an SEA is being conducted on both the local plans and the structure plan revision process.

The new structure plan, known as the 'Strategic Plan for Environment and Development' (SPED), will deal with generic policies regulating development on both land and sea, and is meant to set the framework for any revision of the local plans and other more specific policies.

But instead of waiting for the finalisation of the structure plan revision, the current administration has already decided to reduce the present seven local plans to three generic plans.

It has also decided to create new planning policies on various themes, ranging from fireworks establishments and agritourism to petrol stations.

This means that the SPED revision is now being conducted concurrently with the revision of other more specific plans. But no such plan is being drafted to regulate coastal and marine developments.

Moreover, the same Authority which is drafting specific policies on a variety of themes is insisting that development on the seabed should be regulated by the more generic SPED document. But the SPED itself does not exclude specific policies like local plans, which set specific limits to development within development zones.

The ombudsman's proposal was to draft a specific policy regulating planning in coastal and marine zones.

Through such a policy "any person who would like to promote a project that affects these areas would have a clear indication whether his proposal could be favourably approved," Pace said in his letter to MEPA.

On its own, the SPED is meant to create a strategic framework for more specific policies in each particular sector.

Instead MEPA is insisting that the planning framework for coastal and marine development will be addressed in the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development, which is to replace the Structure Plan approved in 1992.

A MEPA spokesperson insisted that coastal and marine areas are a recognised component of the spatial structure of the Maltese islands.

"The aspect is recognised in the objectives issued in 2012 for the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development."

It is the government's intention to finalise work on the SPED in the coming months.

An SEA is also being conducted for the new structure plan. But this solution falls short of a specific plan regulating marine and coastal development in different areas.

Marine and coastal development is in fact one of many themes addressed by the SPED document. Moreover, the document has not precluded MEPA from drafting specific local plans which would address development on land.

The SPED consultation document issued by the previous administration in February 2012 lists among its many objectives the creation of a "framework for the spatial planning of the Coastal Zone and the Marine Area."

The aim of this framework is to "manage activities like shipping, fisheries, infrastructure and oil exploration" and to "promote large scale renewable energy infrastructure."

The draft document proposes to extend MEPA's jurisdiction from the current 12 nautical miles of the coast to 25 nautical miles.