Suspend works during appeal now to avoid ‘absurd’ Halland cases, activists say

Environmental NGOs and activists have called for immediate legal changes to suspend construction works during planning appeals, after a large development saw its permit revoked last week while being partially completed.

In a statement Monday, the Ġustizzja għal Artna campaign – established in response to two controversial planning reform bills that activists want to see withdrawn – said “absurd situations” like the former Halland Hotel site could easily be avoided if the law were immediately changed.

Last week, a court struck down the permit for a massive, now partially constructed, 10-storey residential complex development on the site of the former Swieqi hotel after finding the Planning Authority and Environmental and Planning Review Tribunal had acted “arbitrarily” when granting it.

The Ġustizzja għal Artna campaign said the proposed legal change it was calling for had been “repeatedly promised, yet never delivered, over the past three years”.

“As has occurred in countless other cases, residents who bore the burden of challenging flawed decisions by the Planning Authority were effectively denied justice”, the campaign said.

“This is the consequence of a system that allows developers to proceed with construction even while a permit is under appeal and therefore not yet definitive.”

The campaign group is a coalition of 10 NGOS: BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent, Għawdix, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust Malta, Ramblers’ Association of Malta and Wirt Għawdex.

Activists said the “protracted saga” of planning appeal reform “epitomises the influence developers wield over the government”, which it said had pledged to address the matter.

In September 2023, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that Cabinet had approved a “fairer system” for planning appeals, which would see works halted during appeals.

While that stalled, one of the bills Ġustizzja għal Artna opposes, Bill 144 – officially titled the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act – proposes suspending construction work for up to 10 months while planning appeals are being decided, while setting deadlines for appeals.

“Instead of implementing this necessary reform, it [the government] presented a so-called planning reform package that will dismantle Malta’s key planning safeguards. The reform of planning appeals is merely one component of a broader package that caters to all developers’ wildest wishes; if enacted, it will actually render planning appeals ineffective or meaningless.”

The campaign noted that while the progress of the two bills had been halted “thanks to widespread public resistance”, they had not been withdrawn. The group reiterated its calls for holistic reform of planning laws following a “genuine” public consultation.

“In the meantime, however, the long-promised measure to suspend works while a planning appeal is underway must be implemented without delay through a straightforward amendment to the existing law”, the campaign said.

“Absurd situations such as that of the Halland Hotel would not arise if government chose to do what is right and logical, rather than bending over backwards to appease developers.”