Cold feet on a delicate tweaking of local plans that could anger NGOs

There are close to 7,000 requests to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for changes to be made to local plans, the guidelines that determine building rules in Maltese towns.

But MEPA has confirmed that it has “no fixed date set for completion” of the new local plans, in a clear sign that the government is wary of opening a Pandora’s box before the next general election – despite earlier commitments to finalise this complex process in June 2015.

Fortunes will be made for developers and landowners who submitted 6,814 changes to the local plans last approved in 2006, when the new Labour government announced a revision process after the 2013 election.

MEPA is not excluding “minor adjustments” to development boundaries and building heights, the kind of tinkering that will make goldmines of land parcels and low-lying houses that may have little value today.

And much like the 2006 extension to development zones that turned ‘useless land’ into liquid prospects, so will new local plans create resentment among those who will be left out and environmental NGOs ready to battle over an intensification of development.

The government has already excluded a major extension of development zones like the one carried out by the previous government in 2006.

But when asked why the government does not simply keep the boundaries as these are today, former parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon had justified tweaking the 2006 boundaries by accusing the former government of being “creative” in including certain lands, but not others. 

“Even from an aesthetic point of view it would make sense to include lands which were left out unfairly,” Falzon had said, adding that “there is no intention to repeat the obscenities committed in 2006.”

When asked by The Times about this issue, Falzon’s successor as planning secretary, Deborah Schembri, replied that “it would be premature to comment” on this issue.

The publication of new local plans presents a dilemma for the government.

If the plans lean too heavily in favour of development they could create new tensions with environmental NGOs, which the government could be keen on avoiding in the next months, especially if the government opts for an early election. It could also keep the media busy scrutinising the beneficiaries of the new plans.

But if the new plans are too sensitive to environmental concerns they could breed resentment among owners who feel left out.

The prospect of the process dragging into the next general election campaign may lead to increased electoral pressures on the government and politicians by those who are hopeful of getting their land included in development zones or who stand to gain from revisions in heights or zoning of particular areas.

According to MEPA, the Local Plan Review process is still ongoing and “considering the scale of the exercise and the complexity of the issues involved, no fixed date has been set for its completion”.

The MEPA spokesperson insisted that changes to the development zone boundaries should follow the process set out in the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED), which requires an appraisal of the 2006 boundaries on the basis of detailed criteria to guide “minor adjustments whilst ensuring that the overall result does not constitute a significant change”.

These minor adjustments, if any, will have to be approved by the House of Representatives. A review of the height limitations is also part of the Local Plan Review Process. 

Asked specifically whether MEPA is considering changes to building heights in specific areas like the Sliema and Gzira promenades, the MEPA spokesperson replied that “no specific area has been excluded from consideration”.

How local plans will be changed

In June 2013 former parliamentary secretary for lands Michael Farrugia confirmed that the government intended to substitute the current seven regional local plans with three generic plans, one of which would be exclusive to Gozo and Comino, one for the whole of urban Malta and the other for the Maltese ‘Out of Development Zone’.

 The aim of this revision was to “streamline policies and avoid conflicting policy interpretation”.

The Structure Plan had envisaged the preparation of 24 Local Plans as well as Plans covering Rural Conservation Areas.  Instead, the previous government had opted for seven local plans covering six regions and one locality. 

Despite the decision to do away with regional local plans MEPA still held seven town hall meetings in 2013 covering the regions incorporated in the current seven local plans. 

Writing in the annual report for 2014 (written at the end of the year) MEPA CEO Johann Buttigieg announced that the local plans are being designed on a “paperless concept” and on a “number of dynamic maps.”

He expected the technical finalisation of the draft local plans to be completed by June 2015.  This had to be followed by discussion with the government followed by an eight-week public consultation period.

MEPA chairman Vince Cassar also described the publication of the new local plans in 2015 as an “important milestone”.

Cassar wrote that “it is now time that local plans are updated as required” and that a “number of discrepancies and anomalies in the current plans” need to be adjusted.  Cassar made it clear that he was against “indiscriminate enlargement of development zones” but “a number of anomalies need to be addressed.”