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6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 AUGUST 2026 NEWS PN says separate planning appeals consultation needed to scrutinise bill The PN has not submitted its views during the government's public consultation on planning appeals reform, but has instead opened its own consultation, saying it needs to scrutinise the draft before Parliament considers it THE Nationalist Party has de- fended its decision to launch a separate consultation on plan- ning appeals reform after the government's consultation closed, saying it wants to assess how the proposed legislation would work in practice. The long-awaited reform would suspend development works while planning appeals are being decided. PN planning spokesperson Rebekah Borg told MaltaToday that the party fully supports the reform and has been urging government to advance it for years and that the consultation is meant to ensure that the re- form does not have any unin- tended consequences. Asked why the PN had not submitted its feedback during the government's formal con- sultation, and why it had in- stead launched its own process immediately after that consul- tation ended, Borg said the Op- position's role was not simply to participate in a government consultation. She said the PN's responsi- bility was to scrutinise the bill eventually presented to Par- liament, including any chang- es made following the official consultation, propose amend- ments at committee stage and vote on the legislation. Asked whether a separate con- sultation was necessary given the broad consensus on the ur- gency of the reform, Borg said the PN wanted to hear directly from those affected about how the provisions would operate in practice, whether they could have unintended consequences and whether amendments were required. She pointed out that envi- ronmental NGOs had already identified aspects of the bill they believed could be im- proved. The party's position comes despite broad support for the reform among environmental organisations that opposed last year's planning legislation. The Ġustizzja għal Artna cam- paign, which brought together 10 environmental NGOs and led protests against last year's planning bills, has welcomed the current proposal. It has described suspending development works for the duration of an appeal and im- proving the appeals process as its central demands, while urging government to enact the reform without last-minute changes that could weaken it. Borg said this broad support did not prevent the PN from proposing amendments. "Broad agreement on the ur- gency of reform does not pre- clude amendments to the Bill, nor should it result in further delay," she said. Asked whether the PN's con- sultation could itself result in further delay, Borg said it would close a couple of weeks before parliament reconvenes in October, leaving sufficient time for the party to complete its work without delaying the parliamentary process. The PN is also calling for the bill to be given priority and brought to second reading as soon as parliament resumes. Student groups flag Cabinet loophole Twenty-five student organ- isations have recently wel- comed the bill but have raised concerns about a provision allowing Cabinet to lift the au- tomatic suspension of devel- opment in cases deemed to be of "strategic significance" or in the "national interest". They argued that this could allow ministers to override the protection the reform is intend- ed to provide and called for the provision to be removed. The organisations welcomed the automatic suspension of development while an appeal is pending, describing it as the "bare minimum" for a fair plan- ning appeals system. Il-Kollettiv warns of developer lobbying Il-Kollettiv has welcomed the reform's central principle but criticised the PN for opening a second consultation after the government's process had end- ed. It warned that this could give developers another opportuni- ty to lobby against the changes and potentially delay their im- plementation. The Malta Development As- sociation (MDA) has expressed concerns that the proposed planning appeals reform draft contains ambiguities that could lead to "weaponized delays" and blackmail risks for devel- opers. The association urged for a cross-party consensus to en- sure fairness, arguing that the current draft creates an unjust imbalance against legitimate property owners. Labour criticises PN timing The Labour Party has also criticised the PN for not par- ticipating in the government's consultation and launching its own after the official process had concluded. But the PN rejects the sugges- tion that its initiative will delay reform. Borg said the party's position on the central issue was clear: development permits should be automatically suspended once an appeal is filed and re- main suspended until the ap- peal is concluded. She said the PN's consultation would focus on whether that suspension is genuinely effec- tive, whether exceptions could undermine the right of appeal, and whether the proposed deadlines and resources for the Environment and Planning Re- view Tribunal and courts are adequate. "It is needed, and it is long overdue," Borg said of the reform. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt PN planning spokesperson Rebekah Borg