Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/560195
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015 11 News Church: environment will 'be victim of MEPA demerger' Church's environment commission lambasts 'rhetoric and marketing efforts to portray positively bills which will make the environment a big loser' MIRIAM DALLI HAVING itself proposed the idea of demerging the Malta Environ- ment and Planning Authority in 2009, before it actually turned into Labour's electoral prom- ise, the Church's Interdiocesan Commission for the Environ- ment (KA) shot down the Bills proposing changes, describing the government's new laws as "a step backwards in proper devel- opment planning". Labour will be creating sepa- rate planning and environment authorities, and overhauling the Structure Plan into the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED), much to the consternation of the envi- ronment lobby which claims the laws will facilitate more develop- ment outside urban zones. In its position paper, the KA said there were a number of ar- ticles about which it had reser- vations, some of them very seri- ous. "MPs serving their country is not equivalent to serving an in- terest group, which seeks only to reap fast profits by exploit- ing the natural environment or intensifying construction in ur- ban environments which under- mines rather than improves the quality of life of citizens," the KA argued. In a statement addressed to political parties before the 2013 general elections, the KA had al- ready expressed itself in favour of splitting the environment from the planning arm, the idea being to give the environment greater protection because MEPA was not being effective enough. "There would not have been a need for the demerger had MEPA functioned as it was supposed to function, i.e. actively and effec- tively protect our limited land resources," the commission said. Ministerial interference, weak bills "The KA sadly notes that be- yond the rhetoric and the mar- keting efforts currently being made to portray positively the splitting of the environment and the planning functions, and the setting up of two new authori- ties, the proposed Bills will make the environment a big loser due to the weakening of the devel- opment planning function that was introduced after years of environmental pillaging due to direct ministerial involvement in regulating development in the country." The KA appealed to MPs not to shirk their responsibility and "keep their conscience at rest by resorting to the reasoning that separating the planning from the environment functions was an electoral pledge." "The KA sees the current pro- posals simply as the collapse of governance in the Planning Authority coupled with direct legally-sanctioned ministerial involvement." It said the weaknesses of the bills had been aggravated by the fact that the SPED was in itself "a very weak document". Moreover, the changes to poli- cies carried out will render de- velopment in Outside Develop- ment Zones much easier. It also said it was seriously wor- ried that the executive council of the Planning Authority will have an executive chairperson who, apart from the powers granted specifically to the holder of this post – instead of granting such powers to the Authority – will also be the minister's puppet. In fact the executive chairper- son, who is to be appointed by the minister, may also be dis- missed by the minister at any time if his targets set by the min- ister are not achieved. The KA said this control by the executive on directors would demote the PA from an author- ity to a private secretariat of the minister where appointments of key, and less key, people are concerned. "In fact minor ap- pointments such as secretaries of advisory bodies to the Planning Board are also to be appointed by the minister. The KA will contin- ue to oppose such interferences as it has done in the past." Toothless Environment Protection Authority The KA also said the new En- vironment Protection Authority would have "no teeth, or even a jaw, for such an authority that was supposed to provide greater protection to the land and sea environment than we have wit- nessed so far." "The land environment is held in trust by the government for the needs of the current gen- erations without compromising those of future generations. The government has to act as a stew- ard of such a national treasure and not introduce lax procedures that undermine the protection of the land and sea environment." It warned that with the pro- posed competencies of members on the Environment and Plan- ning Review Tribunal, the plan- ning system would move further towards a legalistic approach to planning which risks dispens- ing with a holistic approach to sustainable development. This situation encourages those who want to 'play the system' to dis- cover ways of circumventing the law and continue unabated with their unsustainable plans. Gozo hotel would gobble up 530 sq. metres of ODZ land JAMES DEBONO A hotel proposed in Marsal- forn will extend into 530 square metres of outside-development zones, with a swimming pool and surrounding terraces that will extend into an Area of High Landscape Sensitivity. The 4-star hotel, which is be- ing proposed by Pristina Prop- erties, owned by Victor Bigeni, is set to include 87 double bed- rooms, a restaurant, conference facilities, a gym, health and spa facilities, an outdoor pool, an indoor pool, and underground parking for approximately 43 cars. The six-storey hotel will have an approximate total gross floor area of 8,000 square metres, and will also include another pool on the roof over 1,193 square metres. A project development state- ment presented by the develop- ers shows that the developers are trying to mitigate the impact on the landscape by enclosing the outdoor swimming pool at the rear of the site within land- scaped banks, and by imple- menting a landscaping scheme to lessen the visual exposure of the project. In 2009, the Malta Environ- ment and Planning Authority had approved the development of 29 apartments and four pent- houses over four storeys on the part of the site which lies within the development zone, located between two existing blocks of buildings. Permission was also granted to demolish a solitary farm- house located between the two already built blocks, which is the only building presently on site. A screening report by the Environment Directorate con- cludes that the development involves substantial encroach- ment beyond development zone boundaries – equivalent to more than half of the site – leading to urban sprawl. The report attributes this to the "disproportionately large- scale development being pro- posed on a relatively small de- velopable site at the edge of the built-up area". But the report concludes that this issue does not merit further detailed assessment through the EIA process, as these can be directly addressed through the development control process. Nature Trust warned that this development would create a very dangerous precedent as the current application spills into an ODZ area within what is being referred to as 'abandoned fields', and happens to touch the boundary line of agricul- tural fields.