Where the parties stand | Environment

Back in 2008, the environment was a big issue. The election came in the aftermath of protests by civil society on issues like the extension of development boundaries and controversial permits in pristine areas like Ramla.

To assuage this anger, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi took an electoral commitment to redress the environmental deficit by taking ownership of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, putting it directly in his portfolio.

Still, while he was making this pledge, Gonzi had met the Armier squatters lobby promising to renew a 2003 pledge to give them a legal title on the land where the illegal shacks are located.

After the election, MEPA reform brought about a number of changes, including the institution of full time boards instead of the previously part time DCC, which included architects who regularly represented clients in planning applications.

Unlike the period between 2003 and 2008, the past five years were devoid of major any controversy to match, for example, the furore that broke out over the Xaghra l-Hamra golf course, since the government became less enthusiastic for such projects. But environmentalists continued to show their disapproval for a number of smaller decisions.

Moreover, land use remained a hot potato with an increasingly vocal developers' lobby taking umbrage at "bureaucracy", a sentiment often echoed by the opposition Labour party. The PL has also warmed to land reclamation, with Labour leader Joseph Muscat arguing that real estate projects involving land reclamation could ease the pressure off construction proposals outside development zones (ODZ).

Hunting has also remained a contentious issue, with both major parties committed to allow hunting in spring while AD is taking the same position as Birdlife in its opposition to spring hunting.