Outside Development Zones, where urban construction is generally prohibited, should not be reduced in upcoming revisions to local plans, Prime Minister Robert Abela has said.

“On a general level, the ODZ should not be touched,” Abela said.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli recently told Parliament that Malta’s development zones should not grow any further.

“The increases of 2006 were more than enough, and we definitely should not increase on that,” Dalli said.

Abela: ODZ should not be touched

Times of Malta asked Abela if he agreed with his environment minister.

“I’ve already said that there is a need to revise the local plans because an exercise that took place 18 years ago does not necessarily meet the needs of today,” he replied.

He said people will have different opinions on where the local plans should go, based on their interests.

“People who own land that was left out of the development zone will naturally hope that it is put in the development zone. Others will want to see the development zones reduced from what they are today.

“It is important to let the process carry on without me giving my subjective opinion about what should happen. In the moment I do that, I would have closed the process without it opening.”

But when pressed on whether the Outside Development Zone should be reduced, Abela said that “on a general level, the ODZ should not be touched”.

“I believe that the ODZ should not be touched,” he repeated later.

He said there should not be construction projects on land that is agricultural.

Malta’s local plans regulate land use and development across various regions, defining the boundaries between development zones and ODZ. The last major revision of Malta’s local plans in 2006 saw large swathes of land move from ODZ to development zones.

The local plans also establish building height limits based on location, street characteristics and purpose – such as residential, commercial, or other uses – ensuring structured growth and sustainability.

Abela said that revising plans was not only about the ODZ but also about other issues like height limitations and what is to happen with rationalisation sites –  areas that were put in the development zone but have still not been re-zoned for their intended purpose.

Specifying areas where high-rises are allowed is also an important issue that needs to be discussed in local plan revisions, Abela added.

He said a local plan revision in Marsa would allow the government to regenerate the area.