From calls to suspend development permits once an appeal is filed, to raising concerns about the Fort Chambray development, four eNGOs have detailed their hopes and concerns for the coming year.
The Malta Independent contacted four eNGOs, asking them to highlight their hopes for 2025 from an environment and heritage perspective, their major concerns for the coming year, and what they believe the top policy priorities in these two areas should be.
Responses highlighted multiple points, although three of the four mentioned concerns regarding the recently approved Fort Chambray permits by the Planning Authority, and two of the four mentioned the proposal to change the law regarding appeals to planning permits. Regarding Fort Chambray, earlier this month a mega-development proposed within the fort in Gozo and the dismantling of a British barracks building within the same complex was approved by the Planning Authority, although appeals are being filed.
Responding to the questions posed by this newsroom, Din L-Art Helwa President Patrick Calleja expressed his hope that laws regarding planning permit appeals are changed, to suspend development permits which are under appeal. This, he said, would be a “major step in the right direction for Malta.”
This point was also highlighted by the CEO of BirdLife Malta, Mark Sultana, who said that so far the government’s promise in this regard has not been kept. “We were promised this change by the Prime Minister, but to date, nothing has changed despite promises of the policy being implemented within weeks.”
Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar Coordinator Astrid Vella highlighted the importance of having authorities run by “by competent, qualified, people of integrity, taking ethical decisions that respect Malta’s planning, environment and heritage laws and policies.”
Nature Trust President Vince Attard aired his concerns on the decrease of natural open spaces as “more development takes over” with the natural ‘corridors’ between villages and cities “disappearing”
‘How can people take decisions on a heritage building when it’s not even scheduled yet?’ – DLH President
Din L-Art Helwa President Patrick Calleja raised concerns about the treatment of heritage buildings by the Planning Authority.
One of Calleja’s major concerns, which he believes is shared by a number of people, regards proposed works at Fort Chambray in Gozo, and he also highlighted that the barracks on site was not scheduled. He also mentioned the permit granted for Villa St Ignatius, which was part-scheduled after the planning permit was issued, not before. “The whole idea behind planning is to think ahead. How can people take decisions about a heritage building when its not even scheduled yet? It should be scheduled before they take decisions in order to know exactly what the significance of that historic building is and take an informed decision.” A request for the villa’s scheduling had been pending since 2017, and it was scheduled as Grade 2 in December of this year, after a planning permit for a hotel was granted.
Calleja also expressed his hope that laws regarding planning permit appeals are changed, to suspend development permits which are under appeal. This, he said, would be a “major step in the right direction for Malta.” He also hopes that there would be more education in schools about the effects of climate change and ensuring that all levels of society “do their part” to tackle this issue.
Calleja stressed the urgent need for a policy on climate change. He also advocated for increased sensitivity for Urban Conservation Areas. “There has been a huge negative impact on most of the Urban Conservation Areas around the country” with the heights of buildings, adding that there should be a buffer zone between urban conservation areas and areas where higher buildings are allowed.
Calleja went on to note that, as things stand, urban conservation areas require more conservation, in order to retain what already exists before constructing something new. “Building 5-storey buildings bordering a conservation area is unacceptable for me and discourages people from buying the properties and subsequently preserving them,” he concluded.
Authorities need to be run by competent, qualified people of integrity – FAA Coordinator
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) maintains that Malta’s most urgent needs regarding heritage and environment protection in 2025 “is to have the authorities run, and decisions taken by, competent, qualified, people of integrity, taking ethical decisions that respect Malta’s planning, environment and heritage laws and policies,” the NGO’s coordinator Astrid Vella told The Malta Independent.
“At present, these policies are being violated by the Planning Authority (PA), the Environment Resources Authority (ERA) and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH),” she alleged.
FAA’s major concerns for the coming year are the mega-developments planned to destroy two heritage and environment jewels – Manoel Island and Fort Chambray, she said. “Manoel Island is of inestimable value as it’s the only wooded area in the heart of the most congested area in Malta, stretching from Msida to Pembroke. The development will not only denature what is probably Europe’s oldest surviving quarantine Lazarretto and its cemeteries, but the massing of some 400 apartments along the Manoel Island seashore will block the view of Valletta’s iconic World Heritage Site fortification, in violation of UNESCO guidelines. The project will also increase traffic and vehicle emissions in an area that’s already congested and heavily polluted, further undermining the quality of life and health of surrounding communities,” she said.
Regarding the top policy priorities, she said that most of Malta’s policies, like the Local Plans, are well-studied, positive documents. “The problem is that the PA, ERA and now even the SCH are routinely ignoring these plans, policies and laws, in order to grant permits to outrageous developments which, to quote the Chief Justice ‘Should never have been considered’.”
The policies that urgently need to be annulled are those permitting over-development, like the nefarious Annex 2 of DC 15, “which was slipped in illicitly, allowing developers to add two or more floors above the Local Plan limitations, which is wreaking havoc in Malta’s towns and villages,” she said.
“Furthermore, we need to amend Malta’s Constitution with the utmost urgency, as the clause in Chapter II which says ‘The State shall safeguard the landscape and the historical and artistic patrimony of the Nation,’ is immediately debunked undermined by .the provisions of this Chapter shall not be enforceable in any court’.”
Pending permits and applications do not bode well for the environment in 2025 – BirdLife Malta CEO
BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana also highlighted the need to change the law to suspend planning permits when an appeal is filed, saying that so far the government’s promise in this regard has not been kept.
Sultana also hopes for action from the European Commission with regards to the bird trapping of situation in Malta to find out why, despite a European Court of Justice ruling, government is still opening a trapping season “disguised” as scientific research. He also said that BirdLife’s court case against the government regarding spring hunting is close to concluding.
Furthermore, he wants to see the Planning Authority and Environment and Resources Authority “being less permissible” when it comes to projects which will impact the natural environment, adding that over the past years “we have been seeing horrendous things happening which don’t make sense,” especially from the Planning Authority.
Sultana is concerned about pending permit applications which do not “bode well” for the environment. “Our concerns are that everything will remain as usual. Every year we move closer to the election and the environment and heritage always suffer during that period, but it seems that over the past five years we didn’t see much difference as every year a heritage site, such as Fort Chambray recently, or a part of nature’s footprint was lost.
Regarding what he believes the top policy priorities should be, he said that these should focus on all the requests made to the prime minister by NGOs, such as to change the law in order to suspend planning permits when an appeal is filed. The law as it is currently, he said, is not fair on people who want to appeal a decision. “We were promised this change by the Prime Minister, but to date, nothing has happened, despite promises of the policy being implemented within weeks.” It was a promise that was not kept, he said, and “it just goes to show the values of this administration,” he concluded.
As development increases, biodiversity decreases – Nature Trust President
Attention to the scientific repercussions of rampant development was drawn by Vince Attard, President of Nature Trust Malta, who highlighted the importance of the preservation of natural corridors between construction development for the sake of wildlife.
Attard hopes that there will be an increase in the importance given to education on sustainable development within the educational sector as well as more enforcement of environmental legislation. He went on to air his concerns on the decrease of natural open spaces as “more development takes over” with the natural ‘corridors’ between villages and cities “disappearing” resulting in a decline in biodiversity due to the lack of space, with further negative effects, such as upsurge of disease in the wild, for example, he said.
For Attard the “top priority” should be a “strong political agenda” for the environment, “We need to start appreciating that the environment is part of sustainable development and has an economic value. It should be cared for before it is too late.” He said that the environment should be higher on the political agenda to promote more sustainable development and protect the natural environment better.