Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/484780
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 MARCH 2015 News JAMES DEBONO THE government has issued a le- gal notice through which develop- ers will no longer require the writ- ten consent of 75% of neighbouring owners in the same street when they apply to change the street alignment of a particular area. The proposal was issued for public consultation in November. Changes to zoning and street alignment are normally done through a Planning Control (PC) application. The changes can be re- quested by MEPA itself if these are deemed to be in the interest of prop- er planning. In such cases, MEPA is not required to seek the consent of residents in the area surrounding the development. But when changes are requested by a private person, the consent of 75% of neighbouring residents is needed before an application can be presented. A PC application can change only two conditions: the road alignment and the zoning of a site. Contacted by MaltaToday in No- vember, the former CEO of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, planning lawyer Ian Sta- frace, was sceptical, noting that the consent mechanism avoided a "cas- cading of litigation and disputes" after the approval of planning changes. But former planning minister Michael Falzon had welcomed the change, insisting that "giving peo- ple incontestable rights over their neighbours' property never works". He also had said that existing reg- ulations of the consent mechanism practically give the power of veto to owners, resulting in abuse. Effectively what will happen is that MEPA will still determine applicant-driven PC applications without the neighbouring consent. According to the government the aim of the reform is to facilitate the processing of planning control ap- plications. Owners presenting PC applica- tions will still have to notify neigh- bouring owners of their plans. The consent of 75% of owners will still be required in cases where a parcel of land is proposed for comprehensive development, as was the case of formerly ODZ sites added to development boundaries. Neighbours' veto on zoning removed Consent of 75% of neighbours no longer required for presenting an application to change street alignment and zoning of a particular area 14 employed on a person- of-trust basis at Gozo Ministry FOURTEEN individuals at the Gozo Ministry are employed on a person-of-trust basis, Gozo Minis- ter Anton Refalo informed parlia- ment. In reply to a question by PN MP Jason Azzopardi, Refalo said eight were employed at the office of the permanent secretary, two with the projects directorate, and three at the tourism directorate, customer services and the programme im- plementation directorate. The works vary from transport co-ordinators, to customer care assistants, advisors on cultural and performing arts and on financial control matters; Gozo Channel in- ternal audit committee members and a co-ordinator on solid waste issues. The salary scale varies between 6 and 16. According to the Public Admin- istration Act, the staff assigned to the secretariat of a minister, in- cluding advisors or consultants to the minister, shall be deemed to be occupying positions of special trust and shall, even if they are public officers assigned on trans- fer, be appointed thereto on the basis of a definite contract. The changes can be requested by MEPA itself if these are deemed to be in the interest of property planning