Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/827430
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 MAY 2017 News 6 JAMES DEBONO WHILE promising to final- ise the Paceville master plan, which promises high-rise buildings on nine sites in St Julians, the Labour Party's manifesto fails to refer to the most important planning de- cision facing the next govern- ment. The Labour Party manifesto does not include any com- mitment with regard to the completion of the local plan review process, commenced as soon as Labour was elected to power in 2013The process had attracted close to 7,000 sub- missions. The draft local plans were expected to be completed by June 2015. But the revision of the local plans remains in- complete and is expected to be concluded after the next gen- eral election. The new local plans are ex- pected to include the tweaking of development boundaries. In a bid to achieve a zero net loss of ODZ, and therefore not be accused of enlarging develop- ment zones to appease owners who missed out in the 2006 extension, the government has hinted that it will remove some of its own lands from the development zones to accom- modate some private owners of ODZ lands. "The net impact would be ze- ro loss of ODZ areas," claimed government sources with the Sunday Times on the effects of this redrawing process last year. Addressing environmen- tal NGOs on Monday Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that some of the boundaries drawn up by the revised local plans in 2006 were "crazy" and must be redesigned. However, he insisted that any extension of development zones will be compensated by extending ODZ zones elsewhere, arguing that "some sites are simply too beautiful to be left open for construction". Before the 2013 election Joseph Muscat had promised that ODZ bounda- ries "won't be touched". MaltaToday reported in Jan- uary that the government is under intense pressure from aggrieved landowners who were left out of the 2006 ra- tionalisation, to have their lands included in development zones – a move that would ap- preciate the value of their land. Wary of tinkering with boundaries, Environmental- ists have called on the govern- ment not to revise local plans before 2026. Paceville masterplan to be completed The only significant land use commitment made in the manifesto is that of conclud- ing the Paceville masterplan. The promise to enact the new masterplan is tempered with a commitment not to expropri- ate private land without the consent of the owners and after compensation is agreed upon. The party also vaguely hinted at a revision of plan- ning policies to ensure that loopholes are closed. The PL speaks about strengthening the Environ- ment and Resources Author- ity by giving it the power to impose fines but fails to re- dress the imbalance of power between the PA and the ERA when it comes to the issue of permits. Absent from the PL's mani- festo is any commitment on land reclamation which was proposed in the Paceville mas- terplan with regard to a posi- donia meadows rich area in Portomaso. PN commitments Although the PN has so far not published a manifesto it has made a number of binding commitments. These include a clear commitment against land reclamation for specula- tion purposes, a commitment to turn White Rocks into a Nature Park, the protection of valleys like Wied Ghomor, a halt to any development at Zonqor and an overhaul of 2014 ODZ policies to close off current loopholes. But the PN has so far failed to refer to the completion of the local plan Analysis: Land use on the After having left new local plans for completion till after the next election, the present administration has unleashed a spectre which will return to haunt the green electorate in a couple of months time. How are the parties rising to the occasion?