Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/538516
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 JULY 2015 5 JAMES DEBONO THE new planning law which is being rushed through parliament before the summer recess, will give developers the opportunity to pro- pose changes to their own advan- tage, without 'showing their cards'. By law every citizen can comment and submit proposals on any new planning policy or plans which are being discussed, and these com- ments are published together with the replies given by the Planning Authority to each comment. This will not change in the new planning law except for one impor- tant detail. While presently anyone making a submission to MEPA has his name published, the new planning law which is set to replace the existing one, will allow people to submit their comments anonymously. Through the new law, which is be- ing rushed through parliament be- fore the summer recess, architects and developers who have a vested interest in developing particular parcels of land will be able to do so anonymously. While the law approved in 2010 simply stated that when a plan or policy has been prepared, the Authority has to publish "a state- ment of the representations it has received and the responses it has made to those representations," the new law states that the Au- thority should publish a statement of the representations "whether anonymous or otherwise", and the responses it has made to those rep- resentations. In the past, the publication of these names enabled newspapers like MaltaToday to establish a link between the final changes to plans and policies and the influence of vested interests on the planning process. The change was not proposed in a consultation document on the pro- posed demerger of the environmen- tal and planning arms of MEPA is- sued in April 2014. Moreover, this is the second attempt by the gov- ernment to introduce secrecy in the planning process. In July 2013, the Malta Envi- ronment and Planning Author- ity announced that it was granting anonymity to anyone proposing changes to the local plans. The startling announcement was made in a power point presentation by MEPA as it launched public discus- sions for the forthcoming changes to the local plans – the guides to all decisions related to planning applications. MEPA cited "data protection" as the justification for this change in policy. MEPA's in- tention was to publish the reference number given to each submission – and not the name and surname of the person making the comment or submission. But the publication of the names of the architects and companies proposing changes to Malta's lo- cal plans was deemed not to be in breach of privacy rules by former Information and Data Protection Commissioner, Joseph Ebejer. Environmentalists Din l-Art Helwa had also criticised this deci- sion, insisting that MEPA's previous practice should remain: all persons and organisations that make sub- missions during the consultation period should be identified and not be permitted to remain anony- mous. In fact, the decision to give de- velopers the chance to apply a was reversed in October following the declarations of the data protection commissioner. "In the interest of retaining the same high level of public scru- tiny and transparency, MEPA has reconsidered its decision not to publish the names of individuals or organisations who submit repre- sentations or proposals for change in any land use or policy review," a spokesperson for MEPA told Mal- taToday. MEPA is obliged by law to take into account all submissions in the various phases of consultation and give a reply to each request or comment. MEPA is also obliged by law to publish the gist of every re- quest and comment, as well as the response thereto. On all previous occasions, for local plans and others subject to public consultation, the names of companies and citizens submitting proposals were published alongside MEPA's response. These included the names of architects and devel- opers who had proposed changes and had a vested interest in devel- oping particular parcels of land. This transparency enabled the media and NGOs to question the motivation behind the inclusion of particular plots of land in develop- ment zones or in areas with relaxed height limitations. ODZ no longer ODZ The new bill also turns back the clock with regards to one of the most important reforms intro- duced in 2010; the ban on sanction- ing illegal buildings on scheduled locations.The proposal was first made in a consultation document "For an efficient planning system" which was issued for public consul- tation in April 2014. Presently Article 70 of the Envi- ronment and Development Plan- ning Act enacted by the previous government in December 2010 prohibits the MEPA (Malta Envi- ronment and Planning Authority) from regularising any illegal devel- opments built in ODZ or scheduled areas. The sixth schedule of the Envi- ronment and Development Plan- ning Act also bans MEPA from regularising any illegal extension to ODZ development. Aerial photos taken in May 2008 were used to determine whether development had been carried out after this date, to assist MEPA in refusing any requests to 'sanction' these extensions. The new Article 70 simply states that the Planning Board may "may grant permission for the retention on land of any buildings" carried out "without permission." News New law allows Developers to hide behind 'anonymous submissions' Opposition leader warns against return to 'Lorry Sant days' TIM DIACONO OPPOSITION leader Simon Bu- suttil presented a motion, calling for the "ambiguous" Strategic Plan for the Environment to be sent back to MEPA for further study. Speaking during the second reading of the SPED in Parlia- ment, he warned that the last time the government had so much con- trol over planning that it will have now was in the days of Dom Min- toff and Lorry Sant. "The government considers the environment as an obstacle that is standing in the way of doing what it wants," he said. "The SPED is intentionally vague and intended to give the government absolute power in development while weak- ening environmental protection and the possibility of sustainable and balanced development. "It will change Malta's face into one of excess development con- trolled only by a government that wants to do what it wants and has too many obligations towards people who elevated it to power." If the motion fails, the opposi- tion will present a second motion for an amendment in the SPED to clarify that all changes in ODZ boundaries be approved by Parlia- ment. "The SPED is too ambiguous about this, and we want to clarify that all changes in ODZ must pass through Parliament as they always have," he said. Busuttil accused the government of profiting from Parliament's summer break to rush through the new laws- the SPED and the planned MEPA demerger. He had harsh words to say about the latter three Bills, which he warned will weaken the environ- ment and render the new Environ- ment Authority a mere "external consultee" to the Planning Au- thority. "The Prime Minister will keep MEPA's planning arm under his portfolio, and cut off MEPA's en- vironmental arm and give it to [Environment Minister] Leo Brin- cat, the most ineffective minister in the Cabinet," Busuttil said. de Marco who said eNGOs had been taken for a ride, Busuttil crit- icised the government for giving eNGOs less than 24 hours' notice before inviting them to an urgent parliamentary debate on the de- merger earlier on today. "The government is all about postures, pictures, and bluff but no substance," he said, while ques- tioning why the government wants to rush through the introduction of this new law rather than post- poning its second reading until the completion of its public con- sultation. Simon Busuttil: "The SPED is intentionally vague and intended to give the government absolute power"