The PN wants a planning system that aims to build stronger communities rather than push economic development at the expense of quality of life, Bernard Grech said on Sunday.
The Opposition leader was addressing party supporters in Nadur during a political dialogue with community leaders ahead of the reading of next year’s budget at the end of the month.
Architect Edward Scerri and lawyer Nadia Vella spoke to the PN leader about situations related to the built environment, the law courts and family security in Gozo as well as what they would like to see prioritised for Gozo during the budget.
Grech said the PN has a holistic vision for planning that meant taking the country in a direction where a new construction project did not translate into an automatic dip in the surrounding area’s quality of life.
Development projects have to follow rules and standards and it was not acceptable that just because a developer was making a significant investment they thought they had free rein to do as they pleased at the expense of their neighbours’ quality of life, he added.
While most understood that sometimes they had to have some patience until a nearby development was completed, this did not mean they signed up for a never-ending stream of noise, dust and inconvenience.
“What we want to see in the future is livable communities and localities. Not towns that are like dormitories, where you go to sleep and you leave, but places where you get to live and enjoy your life,” Grech said.
“Just as we speak of tourism as an experience, living in your town should also be an experience and so it requires responsible planning and investment in infrastructure.”
Maintaining a good environment for the PN, he continued, meant empowering councils to properly take care of their neighbourhoods, enhancing security by investing in disciplined forces and showing them the respect they deserved, improving connectivity between localities and rediscovering a sense of aesthetic and beauty in planning.
Exercises to change the local plans, Grech added, must reflect these values and strive to respect the realities of the day while balancing the protection of everyone’s rights.
The government must be transparent when it makes decisions that impact development and the environment and discuss them openly, not continue to make decisions behind closed doors. The government cannot impose its will and expect us to accept it or toonly listen to its close allies, Grech said.