Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1504229
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JULY 2023 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE environment watchdog was completely ignored by the government when issuing a scheme to regularise illegalities in partly ODZ properties last April, MaltaToday can reveal. The Environment and Re- sources Authority had not on- ly expressed its "concerns" on the impact of the regularisation scheme but also proposed limi- tations to mitigate the impact. ERA had called for clear defi- nitions of illegalities that can be regularised. But none of ERA's suggestions were taken on board in the legal notice approved by government in April. The information comes from a freedom of information re- quest made by MaltaToday in which the newspaper requested ERA's feedback during the con- sultation process. At the time, the authority had simply con- firmed with MaltaToday that its comments during the public consultation "mainly addressed the environmental concerns po- tentially related to the regulari- sation of illegal developments in areas Outside the Development Zone (ODZ)". Subsequently MaltaToday filed a freedom of information request asking the Planning Authority to publish all the submissions it received during the public con- sultation. The request was de- nied on the premise that the PA was merely administering the public consultation process on behalf of the minister who had already published a summary of the feedback without the need to "identify each private individual and each entity who had raised the issue". Subsequently MaltaToday filed another freedom of information request with the Environment and Resources Authority. This time the request was fully ac- cepted. Fear of urban sprawl In its submission ERA noted that rural areas are already "be- ing adversely impacted by the piecemeal expansion and scat- tering of development". Urban sprawl beyond the development boundaries is also having a neg- ative environmental impact, the authority noted, resulting in "ur- ban sprawl onto the countryside and visual intrusion of high-den- sity development into the rural landscape." ERA warned that these nega- tive impacts "could be exacer- bated as a result of the proposed amendments which seek to reg- ularise irregularities in certain ODZ locations". The controversial regularisa- tion scheme which is being con- tested in the law courts by NGOs allows the Planning Authority to regularise illegalities located in legal properties which are partly located within the development zone, but which have illegalities protruding into the surrounding ODZ. The eligibility criteria by which a site could qualify for regular- isation in such ODZ sites are not specified in the approved amendments. In this way il- legalities like swimming pools surrounded by paved areas, ga- zebos and even built structures protruding in the ODZ may be sanctioned. Presently the PA can only sanction developments conforming to policy. The draft proposal for the reg- ularisation scheme was issued for public consultation in No- vember 2022, during which ERA submitted a detailed submission which included suggestions on how to minimise the environ- mental damage of the scheme. But the legal notice as ap- proved by Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi includ- ed no changes from the draft is- sued in November except for the publication of the fines one is expected to pay to regularise the illegal development. Scale and types of sanctionable illegalities should be defined In its submission ERA had clearly called for a clear defi- nition of the type of illegalities which can be regularised by the scheme. ERA expressed concern that as proposed the scheme can result in the regularisation of "urban development on a site which is mostly ODZ and only partly within the Development Zone", something which accord- ing to ERA "would be of envi- ronmental concern". ERA also presented several recommendations to ensure that "regularisations are kept to the barest minimum." For this aim it proposed that "the scale and types of eligible irregularities are clearly specified and limited to minor interventions"; and "no development should be regular- ised if it constitutes or resulted in an adverse impact on the en- vironment." ERA also gave a clear definition of what constitutes an adverse impact on the environment; in- cluding visual intrusion into the rural landscape, damage to envi- ronmentally sensitive areas such as ridge-edges; valley beds and valley sides, development result- ing in geo-technical instability and development whose specific characteristics, site context or case history would result in the creation of problematic prece- dents for other environmental- ly-inconsiderate development. The legal notice itself makes no reference to adverse envi- ronmental impacts resulting from regularisation but states that any development approved should not constitute an "injury to amenity." While acknowledging that the Planning Authority's intention not to regularise illegalities constitute an injury to amenity, ERA warned that "without due environmental safeguards and criteria, the proposed amend- ments may be construed as un- intentionally promoting devel- opment in ODZ, increasing the risk that irregularities on ODZ land " will be regularised irre- spective of their environmental impacts". ERA also noted that the reg- ularisation process does not involve consultation with ERA, since environmental impacts are expected to be relatively "low or absent". But when not- ing that as worded the legal no- tice does not exclude the reg- ularisation of properties which are mostly ODZ, ERA argued that in such cases ERA's feed- back should be "factored in". ODZ regularisation: How the government ignored its own environmental regulator MaltaToday's freedom of information request reveals how ERA's call to limit and define the kind of illegalities which can be sanctioned was completely ignored by government