ENGOs urge PM to 'turn the page' on planning reforms mistakes
Ġustizzja għal Artna Campaign call for constructive process on introduction of planning reforms
A group of environmental NGOs has called on the government to “turn the page on the mistakes of Bill 144” after the Prime Minister pledged to introduce the planning appeal reforms within the first 100 days in government.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, nine ENGOs which form part of the Ġustizzja għal Artna Campaign, said they “hoped” the reform would be a “simple amendment to the existing law regulating appeals and that no other unrelated provisions will be bundled with this change”.
On Thursday, Robert Abela told Times of Malta he will introduce legislation that would block developments when under appeal during his first 100 days in office, reflecting a pledge made in the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto.
The proposal to stop construction works when a planning permit is under appeal was first announced by former planning minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi in 2023.
Those plans, however, never took off and were only brought up again as part of the wider and controversial planning reforms published in Bills 143 and 144 last year.
Bill 144, which was proposed alongside Bill 143 last summer, included several other provisions which “severely restricted and impacted negatively the right of appeal for ENGOs and objectors,” the groups said.
These included fines of €5,000 for “vexatious appeals”, the restriction of the grounds on which a Planning Authority decision may be appealed to those listed in an objection submitted during the processing of the planning applications, the removal of the power of the Court of Appeal to annul permits, and the granting of a new power to the Planning Tribunal to reconfigure the entire development during the appeals process.
“The ENGOs call on the Government to take this opportunity and turn the page on the mistakes of Bill 144,” they said in their joint statement.
They also expressed their hope that the process will be “more constructive this time” and that the reform “will not be tabled in Parliament again as an accomplished fact during the coming months”.
The statement was signed by: Ramblers' Association of Malta, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Ahjar, Din l-Art Ħelwa , Moviment Graffitti, Birdlife Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Nature Trust Malta, Wirt Għawdex, and Għawdix.