Planning minister refuses to meet 10 associations on planning issues

Planning Minister Clint Camilleri has refused to accept a meeting with ten associations that wanted to speak to him and the prime minister on issues connected to planning, the organisations said.

In a joint statement, the ten NGOs claimed that, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Robert Abela was busy titillating developers with the prospect of even more development through changes in the local plans that would permit unbridled development in every corner of Malta.

Meanwhile, the associations added, the prime minister continued to take the public for a ride by promising reforms in the processing of applications that were never carried out. The developers were still being allowed to build without the permit being made definitive.

The organisations that issued the statement include Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Graffitti.

Reform in this matter has been promised by the prime minister as far back as May last year and has been reiterated many times, with no result.

When they asked to meet Prime Minister Robert Abela and Minister Camilleri, the associations wanted to make two points:

1. The mushrooming of sites that continued to be built even when the court tried to stop them
2. The Planning Authority blatantly disregards court sentences regarding applications that the Authority went on to approve.

Minister Camilleri had promised that a draft reform bill would be ready by September.

It is the residents and their associations that have to bear the brunt of objecting to the applications, and many times, the developers just continue with construction even when the courts later rule against the development.

This has led to a proliferation of illegal developments, such as Joseph Portelli’s illegal pools in Qala and penthouses in Sannat, Gozo.

By failing to correct such an imbalance, the NGOs said, the government was undermining democracy and decreasing the quality of life for all.