Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1407680
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS for further tinkering on indi- vidual plots. Instead, the new policy could make it clear that no presently ODZ land is ev- er added to the development zone. The SPED could further limit development by enshrin- ing solar rights (as once con- templated by Labour_ and by giving the PA greater flexibility in turning down developments which although within policy, constitute over-development in particular areas. 5. Changing local plans can be an opportunity for communities to re- imagine Malta If the local plan process is lim- ited by a new SPED overruling any extension of ODZ bounda- ries or any increase in building heights, local communities and environmentalists will be the ones calling the shots, as devel- opers and property owners will have nothing to gain from the process over and above what they have today. This will also facilitate the democratisation of a process solely aimed at making our towns and villages liveable. Rather than only having six regional local plans, as is the case today, one could have de- tailed plans for each of Malta's 68 localities, with the new lo- cal plans delineating new open spaces and enclaves in each lo- cality. Such plans should be designed with involvement of local councils, citizens assembled in physical and virtual town hall meetings and committees of village elders, focus groups of randomly selected citizens, lo- cality stakeholders and NGOs. Obviously, the Planning Au- thority on an equal footing with ERA and Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, should still give technical input to councils in drafting these local plans. The golden rule should be that all meetings related to lo- cal plans are made public and streamed. One crucial aspect of the new plans should be that of extend- ing urban green enclaves and granting these areas the same status as ODZ. The second crucial aspect is a revision of height policies in a way which respects local character and avoid the canyon effect. The third crucial aspect is to extend UCAs and protect the charac- ter of traditional neighbour- hoods. It remains incompre- hensible why areas like Fleur de Lys were not included in UCAs. 6. The government should build a strong legal case for chang- ing local plans rather than use hypothetical compensation claims based on 'development rights' as an excuse for not changing anything Where there is a will there is a way. Policies which gave owners new development rights as was the case with the abusive fuel station policy approved in 2015, have already been changed in a more restric- tive way. And in doing so, the government has faced no legal challenge whatever despite ex- cluding all agricultural plots from such developments. For the degeneration of our towns and villages is rooted in an accumulation of different policies approved in the past twenty years with the sole aim of changing goal-posts in fa- vour of developers. Unfortunately, without even publishing the legal advice given to it, government has claimed that any restriction of development rights enshrined in local plans would result in massive compensation claims by owners. And despite its sup- posedly newfound green cre- dentials, the Nationalist oppo- sition is committed not to take away any development rights enshrined in local plans, ensur- ing that any PN victory would leave the status quo intact. Still, experts in European law who spoke to MaltaToday have dismissed the legal basis of 'development rights', citing a number of cases decided at European level where similar claims have already been shot down. What is sure is that with re- gards to the environment, Mal- ta has to start with a clean slate, freed from the shackles of past mistakes. Ultimately the great- est obstacle to reform remains the perception that the state is in bed with developers. For who would trust politi- cians who are in the pockets of developers, with tinkering with local plans? Plus ça change... left: the 2015 protest against the Zonqor takeover, and below, the 2006 protest against the extension of the development zones as enshrined in the local plans that were approved by the House of Representatives. Top: Marsaskala outraged, as the 2006 local plans strike back, this time with Labour