‘Hospital development waiver unacceptable’ – Church Commission

The Church’s Environment Commission (KA) has called on the government to revoke two legal notices that exempt hospital developments from environmental impact assessments.

“Transparency, scrutiny and proper public participation in the planning process is crucial, and his applies both to private as well as Government-related projects,” the KA said in a statement. “In this context, we are of the opinion that it is unacceptable that projects in hospital-designated areas be exempt from Environmental Impact Assessment procedures or from the development permit application process.”

The KA also said that the legal term “educational purposes” should not be abusively stretched out to include and justify profit-driven developments, such as motorsports tracks, in outside development zones.

“Educating and training drivers does not necessitate the building of a racing track as was implied in a recently-issued request for proposals,” the KA said. “Earmarking large tracts of land for 'educational or health related purposes' seems to be the latest fad adopted to silence objectors of the project and attempt to justify the irresponsible and unnecessary use of land.

“Any Planning Authority truly deserving of such a title should safeguard our densely populated island’s limited space by establishing a truly responsible and rigorous planning process and framework that genuinely serves the common good.”