Din l-Art Helwa said today that the right of NGOs to appeal planning decisions is enshrined in the law, contrary to what the Planning Authority said earlier this week.

The environmental NGO said it was shocked that, during the first appeals hearing on the Town Square project held on Wednesday, the Planning Authority attempted to argue that eNGOs have no right to appeal major projects such as this, since a member of the Planning Board represents the e-NGO sector as whole.

“The right of NGOs to appeal is enshrined in the new legislation, which was approved by Parliament only recently. The right to appeal was flagged by the government as one of the major improvements of the recent MEPA demerger. 

DLH trust that this plea will not be upheld, since it has no legal basis. The Government must assure the public that any potential flaw in the law or in the planning structure should have been brought up earlier and not at the first appeal heard under the new legislation and on one of Malta's most controversial projects. Contrary to what has been promised by the Government, Planning Authority is blatantly trying to deny access to justice in environmental matters for e-NGOs, which is also a fundamental principle of the Aarhus Convention.”