Over 1,500 responses to planning reform consultation
Meetings with environmental groups and other stakeholders held, government says
More than 1,500 responses were submitted during a consultation period for two controversial bills planning sweeping reforms to planning laws.
In a statement, the government said that following four weeks of consultation, which came to an end Sunday, “more than 1500 submissions were received from the public and various organisations”.
Meetings with environmental groups and other stakeholders were held as part of the consultation process, it said.
“This is after four weeks of open consultation... through which it [the government] wants to carry out a reform in favour of sensible and responsible planning”, the statement read.
The submissions will now be “scrutinised” by a Cabinet committee led by the prime minister’s head of secretariat, Mark Mallia, before further discussions in Parliament.
The committee is comprised of ministers Ian Borg, Owen Bonnici, Clint Camilleri, Miriam Dalli and Jonathan Attard, principal permanent secretary Tony Sultana and cabinet secretary Ryan Spagnol. Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg will be an “observer” on the committee.
Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged to open a consultation process on the two bills after facing pressure from activists outside Parliament. Earlier that day, PA CEO Buttigieg had claimed there was no public consultation process on the laws to “prevent speculation”.
Bill No: 143 of 2025 amending the Development Planning Act proposes over two dozen changes to the Development Planning Act (Chapter 552), granting the Planning Authority more flexibility to revoke permits, limit compensation payouts and intensify enforcement against illegal development.
Meanwhile, Bill No. 144 of 2025, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act, will overhaul how planning and environmental appeals are handled in Malta, promising a more independent, efficient, and digitally streamlined tribunal system.
Activist group Moviment Graffiti has described the two bills, which were quietly tabled in Parliament just before the summer recess, as “a developer’s wish list” and “dismantling nearly all remaining legal safeguards”.