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MT 5 March 2017

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7 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 MARCH 2017 News est. "If you're an architect and at the same time you are the advi- sor to the lands department, you have a conflict of interest." Musumeci, who also advised on the MEPA demerger and the reform of the Lands Department, argued however that every ad- ministration was dependent on the "input of external consult- ants and non-governmental in- stitutions." He noted that his legal and technical contribution must be considered together with the in- put from other stakeholders who are "equally in touch with the government," adding that it was only normal for a government to seek input from a "wide range of interests." As with ODZ, the remain- ing categories of permits show granted permits in 2016 at a 10-year high, with 6,293 appli- cations being approved, up from 3,147 in 2012. The trend is down to several factors according to Musumeci. "The number of planning ap- plications is a direct variant of the state of the construction in- dustry. It is worth recalling that 2008-2013 marked a period of great political instability which was reflected in a lack of eco- nomic confidence." He also underscored the effect of policy changes, such as new sanitary procedures, revised ap- plication procedures and the new Development Planning Act as contributing to these fluctua- tions. Musumeci warned however against drawing conclusions based solely on the number of permits granted. "[One would need to consider the] exact number of applica- tions concurrently awaiting de- cision and actually decided by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal," he said. This was echoed by architect Michael Falzon, also a MaltaTo- day columnist and former Na- tionalist minister who devised the Planning Authority, who said that considering the number of permits granted in isolation could be misleading as there are "too many factors to consider." "It's not enough to simply look at the number... You must con- sider how many permits are be- ing applied for. Today there is more of an attraction for people to invest in buildings so it stands to reason that people are submit- ting more applications." Falzon's firm, Falzon & Cutajar, was granted the highest number of permits in all categories in 2016, with the firm being listed in 171 permits that were green- lighted. The second highest number of permits were granted to Emanuel Vella (140), followed by Saviour Micallef with 122 per- mits. Falzon pointed out that a wash- room permit was issued just like it would for a high-rise con- struction, emphasising that the majority of the work his firm was engaged for over the past four years consisted of relatively small jobs. "Our practice doesn't really take on many big jobs. 50 permits for small projects will probably not generate the rev- enue that one hotel permit does for example," he said. Despite the high number of permits granted, Falzon said that the PA was becoming too in- consistent in how it determines whether or not to grant a permit. "It was never consistent, but it is getting worse again to the point that it's difficult to give clients good advice," he said. Falzon said that differences in policy interpretation from one case officer to the next were a contributing factor, describing decisions as subjective. "I could submit an application in one lo- cality and have it refused only for an identical one to be granted in another area." 1,509 permits have been ap- proved so far in 2017, 196 of which are ODZ applications. Both Musumeci and Deidun said they couldn't see there being a drop in permits granted this year. "There has always been a trend where the number of ODZ per- mits granted spikes in the year before an election. I expect it to be higher this year, both because of the election and because ap- plicants have gotten used to the revised ODZ guidelines," said Deidun. ypace@mediatoday.com.mt Labour MP Charles Buhagiar, who is also chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council, was the second most successful architect in gaining ODZ permits ODZ applications, by architect - 2016 Distribution of ODZ decisions, 2007-2016 "If you're an architect and at the same time you are the advisor to the lands department, you have a conflict of interest" Alan Deidun

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