Updated | PN proposes two-thirds House majority for ODZ development exceptions

Simon Busuttil pledges that a PN government will ensure full autonomy of Planning Authority and Environmental Resources Authority, rejects Marlene Farrugia's call for a moratorium on large projects

The PN holds a public consultation session with unions, associations and green NGOs
The PN holds a public consultation session with unions, associations and green NGOs

The Nationalist Party has called for all land outside development zones to be fully protected, unless two-thirds of Parliament vote in favour of specific projects as exceptions.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil told a public consultation meeting of unions, associations and NGOS that the “radical” proposal will ensure national consensus on land-use.

To prevent an Opposition party from permanently stifling a vote, Busuttil said that such Bills will be subjected to a two-thirds vote for a maximum of two readings, after which the government will be able to pass it with a simple majority.

The two-thirds proposal was first put forward by a group of environmental NGOs last summer in the wake of plans to build an educational institution on ODZ land at Zonqor Point.

Busuttil also pledged that a future PN government will ensure the autonomy of the Planning Authority and the Environment and Resources Authority, rather than “keeping them as the government's puppets”.

Other proposals include a zero-tolerance approach to illegal development, and the design of a new policy to protect areas of high landscape value.

He added that he will review the strategic plan for the environment and development (SPED) to clamp down on potential loopholes, such as the permission of ODZ development when “feasible”.

“It is high time that ODZ land is adequately protected; both parties made their share of mistakes but it is now time to draw a line and stop further degradation once and for all,” Busuttil said. “The line ‘ODZ is ODZ’ has become a cliché and the time has come to give it a true meaning.”

He reiterated a previous PN promise - that publicly-owned ODZ land should be given an economic value at least equal to that of government land in prime development zone.

Busuttil accused the Labour government of "degrading the environment" and implementing policies that have “raised alarm bells”.

He repeated Opposition MP Marthese Portelli’s recent call on government to instantly publish its revised local plans – the building guidelines for Maltese towns and villages.

“Despite earlier promises, the local plans are still not published three years into the mandate of the government,” he said. “This is creating uncertainty among the development sector but also from an environmental point of view. The government cannot draw this process beyond the next general election in a bid to continue entering into a pre-electoral promises at the expense of the environment.”

He agreed with a parliamentary debate on high-rise, but rejected a motion for a moratorium on large projects by Democratic Party MP Marlene Farrugia.

“A moratorium to stop these projects will not solve the problem, as the problem can only be solved if the government adopts a holistic plan looking into the future and supports it with policies that are coherent and not contradictory to each other,” he said. "The SPED approved last summer is weak and vague, and its policy on high-rise contradicts that in the Floor to Area Ratio policy."

Despite environmental promises from Alternattiva Demokratika and the newly-formed Democratic Party, Busuttil insisted that the PN remained “the only realistic option”.

“It is either the PL or PN in government; there is no other realistic option,” he said. “Therefore, in order to get something done in the environment, we need the PN to embrace an updated environmental policy and get it back in power.”

'Political parties should support proposal' - Civil Society Network

The Civil Society Network hailed the PN’s proposal as one that could add a fresh layer of scrutiny to large ODZ projects.

“We urge all political parties and NGOs which have the environment at heart to support this proposal in principle,” Michael Briguglio, Monique Agius, Karl Camilleri and James Debono said in a joint statement.

They added that a parliamentary vote on ODZ proposals should only take place after the conclusion of the planning process and in case of approval by the Planning Authority.