Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/674824
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 MAY 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Government gets right to veto applications on public land JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority will oblige owners to ask the Govern- ment Property Division whether it has any objection to development proposed on public land before presenting a planning application on public land. In this way the government will be able to weed out applications on public land to which it "objects in principle" without committing the planning authority by con- senting to the development pro- posed. Presently owners are obliged to inform the Government Property Division through a registered let- ter, of any application on public land. The GPD would then wait for the PA's approval before issuing its consent. Over the past years MaltaToday has been reporting cases of appli- cations on government land rang- ing from kiosks to private beaches and car parks proposed on strate- gically located plots of public land such as the coast road. The most recent case involved an application in Gudja located on land which is subject to planning enforcements against an irregu- lar restaurant. The application had the stamp of the Government Property Division on it but the government insisted that this did not indicate any approval of the application but that the govern- ment had been notified of it. Technically there was a free for all situation with people applying for developments on strategic lo- cations before a public tender has even been issued to allocate the land to the private sector. In this way the system used to benefit anyone with inside infor- mation on prospective tenders in particular locations because peo- ple with a permit had a natural ad- vantage over others who had not even applied. But a PA circular issued last week now clarifies the situation by stating that applications for proposals on government prop- erty should be accompanied by a clearance from the Government Property Division, stating that "it finds no objection in principle to the submission of an application" on the site in question for the pro- posed development. Applications on government property submitted without such a clearance will be considered as incomplete. All such applications due to be decided on or after the 30th May, 2016, shall be suspended for a maximum period of one year. Fol- lowing which, if the applicant fails to provide the Authority with a no objection notice from the Govern- ment Property Division, the Au- thority shall refuse the application because the applicant would have failed to obtain the owner's con- sent to such a proposal. The need to seek consent of both government and private owners was introduced in the planning reform of 2010. But with regard to public land, the standard practice for the past six years has been that of obliging owners to notify the state, with the consent being is- sued after the planning permit. The official reason for this le- gal ambiguity was that by issuing its prior consent the government would be influencing the planning process. Originally the new planning law approved last year had also sought to remove the consent of private owners for applications located on their own land. But this controver- sial part of the law was removed during the plenary discussion. As things stand now developers need the consent of the owner in cases where the land is private and a "no objection" from the government when the land is public. Plans earmarking a request for development zoning in Gudja included the GPD stamp MAT THEW VELLA EUROSTAT estimates that in 2015 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel com- bustion increased by 0.7% in the European Union (EU), com- pared with the previous year. CO2 emissions are a major contributor to global warming and account for around 80% of all EU greenhouse gas emis- sions. They are inf luenced by factors such as climate condi- tions, economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities. Various EU energy efficiency initiatives aim to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Imports and exports of en- ergy products have an impact on CO2 emissions in the coun- try where fossil fuels are burned: for example if coal is imported this leads to an increase in emissions, while if electricity is imported, it has no direct effect on emis- sions in the importing coun- try, as these would be reported in the exporting country where it is produced. This information on early es- timates of CO2 emissions from energy use for 2015 is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Largest falls in CO2 emissions in Malta and Estonia, highest increases in Slovakia and Portugal According to Eurostat esti- mates, CO2 emissions rose in 2015 in a majority of EU Mem- ber States, with the highest in- creases being recorded in Slo- vakia (+9.5%), Portugal (+8.6%) and Hungary (+6.7%), followed by Belgium (+4.7%) and Bulgaria (+4.6%). Decreases were regis- tered in eight Member States, notably in Malta (-26.9%), Esto- nia (-16.0%), Denmark (-9.9%), Finland (-7.4%) and Greece (-5.0%). The Marsa power station was decommissioned in 2015 Malta registered 27% decrease in carbon emissions in 2015 Polidano group start clearing up Hal Farrug illegal development THE Polidano group has said in a statement that it has start- ed clearing up the area next to the Poligas plant in Hal Far- rug. The illegal development was subject to a direct action by MEPA back in 2013 and was sealed off with concrete blocks. "Tonnes of scrap materials were removed from an area covering over 13,000 sqm," a statement by the group reads. It adds that clearing up works are still in progress, but that landscaping works have al- ready started in some areas. Polidano group added that last week it also started disman- tling the tower at the animal park as instructed by MEPA. "Given the nature of the sur- roundings of the tower this cannot be simply demolished, but needs to be dismantled, however works are speeding up," they add. They add that all works are being carried out under the supervision of Planning Authority officials. Images provided by Polidano Group show scrap materials collected from the Hal Far site