All planning permits which were due to expire between now and the last day of 2022 have been extended by an additional three years.
The Planning Authority extension, which was confirmed through a legal notice published late on Friday, effectively gives additional breathing room to anyone who received a development permit from early 2018 onwards, by stretching out the permit’s standard five-year validity period.
A second, separate legal notice published late on Friday gives the PA board and its commissions the right to carry out meetings using videoconferencing or other electronic means of communication, paving the way for such meetings to resume during the coronavirus pandemic.
Permit extensions
In a statement announcing the three-year permit extension, the PA said that it was granting the extension due to the circumstances the coronavirus pandemic had brought about.
The pandemic has brought most business to a halt, with many facing drastic losses in income or job security.
“The authority is taking this proactive measure to prevent current permit holders from having to carry out a significant amount of works within short period, once normality is restored,” it said.
Sources within the planning sector added that the government wanted to discourage people from rushing into construction once the pandemic was over, in a race against time, while also helping people who have been financially hurt by the economic slump by allowing them to spread their project costs over more years.
The PA said that the extension would help applicants of all sizes, from small household projects to larger businesses, while reducing administrative burdens and avoiding the major disruptions a sudden flood of construction work across the island would lead to.
Videoconferencing rules
The second legal notice empowers the PA to use electronic means of communication to holds its board or commission meetings, making a decision first announced a week ago into law.
The PA had initially decided to resume planning board meetings without warning, prompting public confusion, anger from NGOs and criticism from the environmental ombudsman. PA meetings had previously been suspended due to public health concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Planning Minister Aaron Farrugia had stepped in and said all meetings were cancelled “until a regulatory framework is adopted within the parameters of the law and health directives”.
That framework is now in place, through Friday’s legal notice, and in its statement the PA said it would “soon restart” holding public meetings.
The notice allows applicants, their architects, registered third parties or any member of the public to make submissions about a case electronically, at the chairperson’s discretion.
Any member of the public who wants to participate electronically will have to notify the PA board or commission of their intention to do so at least one working day before the meeting is scheduled to take place.
“This measure is being introduced to allow the chairpersons of the board/commission to take any measures they deem appropriate to ensure the participation of the public,” the PA said.