Vacant property has been valued at almost €5 billion by the Building Industry Consultative Council.

BICC chairman Charles Buhagiar, a former Labour infrastructure minister, said the government advisory body was looking into ways of bringing back the empty property on to the market.

“We are studying the problem. There are a number of planning and legal issues and the problem of empty property has to be taken into consideration in the new local plans,” Mr Buhagiar said yesterday at the first in a series of meetings with the public and stakeholders on the local plans, organised by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Authority chairman Vince Cassar referred to recent statements by NGOs that complained the consultation process was taking place in summer. He pointed out that when the consultation process for the first set of local plans took place, it also happened in summer.

We are studying the problem. There are a number of planning and legal issues

“We are going beyond what we are obliged to do as everyone is being involved in the drafting of the local plans from the very start.”

Mr Cassar mentioned the possibility of there being a second consultation process if there was a substantial difference between the first draft of the local plans and the one that eventually would be presented to the Government.

The planning authority was also reviewing a number of policies, including those related to fireworks, petrol stations and floor-to-area ratio, among others.

Vincent Gauci, from the Malta Water Association, said his organisation was concerned at a number of “water-thirsty features” such as water parks and fountains that were being planned.

“It is important to see that water is harvested through reservoirs situated next to these features,” he said.

He also mentioned the possibility of utilising disused quarries to harvest rain water.

Sandro Chetcuti, of the Malta Developers Association, complained that developers were not being involved in the decision-making process.

“If anything, it is the environmentalists who have a big say in the decisions.”

The association was “expressly against extensions in outside development zones but certain anomalies and injustices had to be addressed”, he said.