Government to do away with regional local plans

Parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia confirmed that the  government  intends to substitute the current 7 regional local plans with 3 generic plans which do away with regional differences in planning policies for different Maltese localities.

Asked whether the government intends to reduce the number of local plans, a spokesperson for Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia revealed that the government's idea is  "to streamline local plans according to spatial designations rather than on a regional basis".

The aim of this revision is to "streamline policies and avoid conflicting policy interpretation".

In a joint statement BirdLife Malta, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth, Malta Organic Agricultural Movement, NatureTrust and Ramblers Association blasted plans to replace the  existing local plans by just three local plans: one exclusive to Gozo and Comino, one for the whole of urban Malta and the other for the Maltese Out of Development Zone.

"This defeats the purpose of local plans, which are intended to tackle the development issues of each area through specific policies necessarily applicable to other areas," they said, asking whether this change could have been dictated by developers' complaints at having to deal with different policies in each local plan area.

Green Party Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo contends that reducing the number of local plans is in breach of the structure plan approved in 1992.

The Structure Plan had envisaged the preparation of 24 Local Plans as well as Plans covering Rural Conservation Areas.  Instead only one such local plan, that for M'Xlokk Bay and its vicinity was formulated.  Instead the previous government had opted for seven local plans covering six regions and one locality.

"It is clear that the proposal in the Structure Plan, which was not adhered to, intended the micro-managing of development through having the proposed Local Plans focusing on a relatively small area. The resulting policies would have been site specific and not of a general nature."

According to the Green Party's deputy chairperson the very purpose for which Local Plans are intended is defeated if these cover a large area. 

He points out that by their very nature Local Plans are intended to cover a small area and consequently to address the potential development in such areas through appropriate policies which may need to be and generally are specific to the area.

"The policies adopted for one area are not necessarily applicable to another. Hence the need for "local" plans."

Despite the decision to do away with regional local plans MEPA will still be holding seven town hall meetings covering the regions covered by the current seven local plans.

The meetings are all being next week, a period coinciding with the peak of the summer season when public interest in political matters is at an ebb.

NGO's have called on MEPA to postpone the public consultation.

MEPA will also be meeting up with every local council and organise a series of public and stakeholder meetings on the revision of local plans.

As opposed to previous public consultation exercises, whereby a six-week period was generally set, the process for the revision of the local plans started off with a three-month public participation exercise, through which the public could highlight any shortcomings that exist in the current local plans.

But it is now unclear how the government will achieve a balance between local needs and priorities with its plans to streamline planning regulation across the board.