Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/718140
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 AUGUST 2016 News Architects warn planning amnesty 'will promote laissez-faire attitude of developers' TIM DIACONO A planning amnesty launched on Monday risks "promoting the laissez-faire attitude of cer- tain developers" by providing a mechanism to legalise illegali- ties, the Architects' Chamber has warned. In a hard-hitting statement, the Chamber said that its reac- tions to the draft legal notice had largely been ignored and that the government did not call them in for discussions to ad- dress their concerns. As such, it warned that the fi- nal version includes too many lacunae and vague requirements and risks opening the door to "severe blots" on the built land- scape. The three-year scheme will apply for buildings within de- velopment zones that appear on the Planning Authority's aerial photographs for 2016, against a minimum €1,000 fees. Unlike previous regularization legal notices in 2012 and 2013, this scheme will not merely offer concessions but rather full plan- ning permits. Applications will be rejected if they constitute an "injury to amenity", that is, if they pose a risk to the comfort, conveni- ence, safety, security and utility in its surroundings. Property owners whose applications are denied will be refunded 90% of their application fee. Property owners have a two- year period in which to apply, while the legal notice also allows the PA to extend the scheme for a third year at fees that are 25% higher. Planning parliamentary sec- retary Deborah Schembri on Monday hailed the scheme as a "unique turning point" that will benefit Maltese people who are unable to sell their properties because they have some form of planning illegality. However, the Chamber of Ar- chitects warned that the legal notice contains several vague statements that, unlike previ- ous CTB concessions, make no distinction between minor and major irregularities. Also, the term 'regularisation' itself is not defined and the term 'injury to amenity' has been left wide open to interpretation. Moreover, the legal notice con- tains no provision for public consultation on individual ap- plications, nor for consultation with authorities such as the Su- perintendence of Cultural Her- itage and the National Commis- sion for People with Disability. There is no mechanism for third parties to register an interest in an application unless they had previously reported the illegal- ity to the PA, and third parties do not have a right of appeal. Despite Schembri 's insistence that the meetings will be taken at public sittings, such a provi- sion is not specifically stipulated in the legal notice. The Chamber also noted that, unlike ODZ properties, proper- ties which are located within urban conservation areas or which are themselves scheduled have not been excluded. Fur- thermore, there is no obligation for the Planning Authority to issue an enforcement notice or to request the removal of the il- legality in applications that they refuse. "Such observations render these new regulations unclear and widely open to interpreta- tion," the Chamber said. "Above all, they fail to address the im- portance of promoting quality of our building stock by allow- ing irregularities to be regular- ized and made legal." Deborah Schembri on Monday argued that planning irregulari- ties are so rampant in Malta that knocking down all illegalities would render the country un- recognizable. "Banks refuse to loan money to people who want to purchase houses with planning illegali- ties," she said. "This means that some separated couples are forced to live under the same roof, and that cancer patients are unable to sell their houses to fund their chemotherapy treat- ment. Through this scheme, the value of their properties will rise significantly. "In an ideal world, our point of departure would be that all il- legalities are wrong but we must be realistic. Had we not taken this decision now, then some- one else would have had to take the same decision in the future, when there would have been even more planning illegalities." The Chamber of Architects warned that the amnesty contains several vague requirements Planning amnesty extended to recent illegalities When first announced in 2015 the amnesty was meant to apply to pre-2013 illegalities JAMES DEBONO ILLEGALITIES committed as recently as a few months ago, even when located in historical urban areas, can still be regu- larised through the new plan- ning amnesty announced on Monday. This is because the legal no- tice, which foresees the regu- larisation of illegalities against the payment of a fee, applies to any illegality which appears on aerial photos taken by the PA in 2016. Speculation on the imminent planning amnesty has been rife since February last year, when Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg confirmed that the authority was considering an amnesty for illegalities committed before 2013 in development zones and before 1994 in ODZ illegalities. But the legal notice which came into effect on Monday excludes the regularisation of ODZ development and includes illegalities carried out within the development zone –includ- ing urban conservation areas – between 2013 and 2016. The PA could well have used 2012 as a cut off date for ille- galities covered by the plan- ning amnesty. This is because the authority has aerial photos dating back to that date. It may even have opted for an earlier cut off date such as 1994, 1998 or 2008, for which comprehensive sets of aerial photos are available. Although anyone regularising an illegality will have to pay a hefty fine, which can rise up to €7,600 for a 175m2 illegal pent- house, the amnesty, unlike pre- vious exemptions from pending enforcement orders introduced before 2013, will enable owners to sell such properties. Instead the PA has chosen to use the newest set of aerial pho- tos, which are not even avail- able on its map server. The planning amnesty an- nounced by parliamentary sec- retary Deborah Schembri is not limited to dwellings with minor irregularities but applies to a wide range of illegal develop- ments, including boathouses, livestock buildings in urban areas, sports facilities, garages, car parks and even film sets. Regularising a small 25m2 boathouse would cost a mere €200. Although the amnesty does not apply to ODZ areas like Armier or Gnejna, illegal boathouses are also found in urban locations such as Vallet- ta, Cottonera, Marsaskala and St Paul 's Bay. The safeguard in this case is that the amnesty is only applicable to registered fishermen. The amnesty, which is limited to illegalities within develop- ment zones is also applicable to illegalities in urban conserva- tion areas. The legal notice also refers to generic categories like "special buildings or uses". The amnesty is not automatic because applications for regu- larisation will still be assessed by a board but curiously in cases where an application is refused the PA is legally obliged to refund 90% of planning fees. The legal notice speci- fied that the illegal development should constitute an injury to amenity but al- lows the PA to e f f e c t i v e l y reg u la r i se r e s i - dential and retail development even if these def y present poli- cies. According to Deborah Schembri the new scheme will address social prob- lems faced by separated persons and people suf- fering from illnesses. "Many people are un- able to sell their prop- erties, because banks refuse to loan money to people who want to purchase houses with planning il- legalities," she said. " T h i s means that some separated couples are forced to live under the same roof, and that can- cer patients are un- able to sell their houses to fund their c h e m o - t h e r a p y t r e a t - m e n t . T h r o u g h t h i s s c h e m e , the value of their prop- erties will rise signifi- cantly," she said. Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg had said that the amnesty would only apply for illegalities committed before 2013