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3 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS GozoToday is a weekly newspaper focused primarily on Gozo. It hopes to serve as a source of information on business, culture, entertainment and of course current affairs. Gozo has a special charm about it but it is also a bustling Island with an identity of its own. We will strive to bring you the news over the next three months. At this stage we are planning to take advantage of the influx of local and foreign visitors to this marvellous Mediterranean Island. But we could be tempted to continue with this newspaper project beyond the Summer months. GozoToday will be published every Friday and is available to numerous outlets in Gozo and on the ferries that carry so many visitors to Gozo from Malta and beyond. GozoToday MediaToday Co. Ltd Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann SGN 9016 EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt GozoToday is published by MediaToday in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo and Planning MINISTERU GĦAL GĦAWDEX U LIPPJANAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 At the centre of the problem is the precedence courts have giv- en to Local Plans, last updated in 2006, over more recent policy guidance documents. These Lo- cal Plans, which date back almost 20 years, outline the broad pa- rameters for development, such as building heights and land use. However according to govern- ment, the legal framework has failed to adapt to changing urban needs, leaving room for confu- sion and inconsistency. Green activists see the reforms as an attempt to favour more develop- ment and wrong interpretation of planning laws. "The difficulty arises from the precedence that the courts in- terpret Local Plans should have over other policy guidance doc- uments. The courts are deciding that the Local Plans, which are nearly 20 years old, should out- weigh more recent policies that are intended to reflect today's ur- ban planning requirements," the senior official said. They explained that while more recent policy guidance docu- ments, like the 2015 Develop- ment Control Policy Guidance (DC15), are designed to mod- ernise development rules, courts often still refer to the outdated Local Plans when ruling on plan- ning disputes. The Local Plans, he emphasised, no longer reflect the realities of Malta's current development landscape. "For example, under current policies, a building on a particu- lar road might be permitted to have four stories and a penthouse based on the more up-to-date DC15, but if an objection is raised and the court refers back to the Local Plans from 2006, that same building could be reduced to three stories and a penthouse, even though the height is exactly the same. This results in incon- sistencies, such as entire streets with four-story buildings except for one development that's lim- ited to three, simply because of how the law is interpreted," he added. One of the most prominent re- cent cases in Gozo demonstrates the chaos that has ensued from this outdated legal framework. A well-known Gozitan contractor — frequently named in both me- dia and activist circles — had his construction site shut down after it was ruled illegal. However, another development just next to it continued without issue, having passed court review without any objections. This stark contrast in how projects are treated has ignited debates about the fairness and effectiveness of the current system. "The courts' interpretation of the law is not because these more recent policy guidance documents are irrelevant or incorrect for as- sessing today's development pro- posals. It's simply because the law still envisions that the older Local Plan policies should take prece- dence," the senior official said. He argued that these legal in- terpretations are not only caus- ing confusion but also fostering perceptions of discrimination among developers. Some pro- jects are allowed to proceed while others are blocked, even when they face similar circumstances, simply because one falls under an outdated policy while the other adheres to a newer one. Addi- tionally, there are concerns that projects by well-known devel- opers may face objections, while those by less prominent develop- ers proceed unnoticed. "There is an urgent need for amendments in planning laws to ensure that the spirit of the most recent policies prevails, rather than policies that are 30 years old," the official said. "This would allow development to proceed in a way that reflects the real needs of the present day, rather than stick- ing to outdated frameworks that no longer serve their purpose." He also hinted and claimed at a growing perception that some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) might be weaponised by competing commercial interests to obstruct developments. While he did not delve deeply into this claim, he suggested that reforms could help cut down on abuses of the system. "What's clear is that reforms are needed not only to streamline how the Planning Authority and courts interpret these policies but to ensure that development aligns with the intent of modern guidelines, rather than becoming bogged down by outdated rules." Courts giving precedence to 2006 Local Plans over more recent policy guidance documents Environmental NGOs and resident groups staging a protest outside Castille, condemning the PA's sanctioning of illegal buildings whose original permits were revoked by the court (Photo: Moviment Graffitti)