Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498223
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 APRIL 2023 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE environment watchdog had expressed "concerns" on the "potential" environmental im- pact of regularising illegalities in properties partly located outside the development zone, Malta- Today has learnt. But the Environment and Re- sources Authority is refusing to divulge the document contain- ing its feedback on the regulari- sation scheme that was unveiled last week. The authority was one of the entities which submitted its feedback on the proposed legal notice during a public consulta- tion exercise carried out in No- vember 2022. The legal notice as approved by government includes no changes from the draft issued in November except for the publi- cation of the fines one is expect- ed to pay to regularise the illegal development. A spokesperson for ERA con- firmed with MaltaToday that the authority's comments dur- ing the public consultation "mainly addressed the environ- mental concerns potentially related to the regularisation of illegal developments in areas Outside the Development Zone (ODZ)". But despite repeated requests, ERA inexplicably failed to pro- vide MaltaToday with the full text of its submission presented during the public consultation. MaltaToday has filed a free- dom of information request asking the Planning Authority to publish all the submissions made during the public con- sultation on the regularisation scheme. ERA has over the past years consistently opposed numerous planning applications request- ing the regularisation of illegali- ties in ODZ. Such illegalities were sanc- tionable only if they conformed to existing policies. With the new rules, property owners can seek sanctioning even for ille- galities that do not conform to planning policies. On several occasions ERA of- ficers objecting to planning ap- plications in the ODZ have de- nounced "the malpractice of first carrying out development out- side development zones without the required permits and subse- quently expecting the regulatory authorities to retroactively sanc- tion a fait accompli." The regularisation scheme ex- plained The new regularisation scheme will enable owners of properties located in the devel- opment zone which are already established by a planning per- mit but which contain illegali- ties protruding into the ODZ to regularise their position. The application applies to illegalities which cannot be regularised through existing policies. For example, as things stand now anyone who has illegal- ly built a swimming within his property can already apply to 'sanction' the illegality if this is within the present rules allow- ing pool areas of 75sq.m. But through the latest scheme someone who has constructed a pool area larger than the 75sq.m limit, will be able to regularise it, if this is contained within the curtilage of a property original- ly approved in the development zone. According to the PA this revi- sion "will affect many individ- uals and families since, if their property can be regularized, the burden preventing the financ- ing of bank facilities or the plac- ing on the market will be lifted". The PA has emphasised that the scheme is targeted towards "persons whose property con- tains minor irregularities and has small parts falling outside the development zone". Ex- amples cited by the PA include yards, backyards and internal heights in breach of sanitary laws. Such illegalities are often impossible to remove without demolishing the entire struc- ture. But environmentalists fear the scheme will flood the property market with lucrative and new- ly legalised properties spilling in the ODZ, further blurring the distinction between the devel- opment zone and the ODZ. One major safeguard against abuse is that the illegalities that can be regularised through the scheme must be located within the "curtilage" of the original building which must be located within the development zone. Moreover, the original building must have a planning permit. Curtilage is defined as the site area established in the original permit for properties estab- lished after 1967. But it remains unclear how the PA will deal with illegal ad- ditions to pre-1967 properties , which are considered to be le- gally established since no plan- ning procedures existed before that date. Moreover, properties approved before the establish- ment of the Planning Authority in 1992 often lack detailed site plans outlining the curtilage of the original building. Properties entirely located in the ODZ will not be eligible. Regularization is not automat- ic with the final decision being taken by a Planning Commis- sion. To regularise their position owners will have to pay a fine which is proportional not the size of the illegality but to the size of the ODZ area included in the property. In the case of un- roofed development like pools and paved areas the fines will range from €400 for properties with an ODZ area of less than 25sq.m to € 989,000 for prop- erties with an ODZ area of over 10,000sq.m. For roofed developments like gazebos and tool sheds, regular- isation will cost between €450 for properties with an ODZ area of 25sq.m up to €1.2 million for properties with an ODZ area of more tha 10,000sq.m. Environment watchdog had 'concerns' on regularisation of partly ODZ properties but refuses to divulge feedback