The Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise (GRTU), has expressed its views on the government’s proposals for the rationalisation of development boundaries.

During the public consultation process, GRTU had pointed out that the criteria as suggested by Cabinet should have been fine-tuned in order to make the process fairer in the interests of a better planning process. GRTU noted that the first thing that should have been done was to define the urban boundaries of every settlement, town and village in Malta and Gozo. The price of property would have been better stabilised as this would have increased supply.

The government had tried to define such boundaries in order to rectify anomalies and at the same time increase urban supply, but it was also wary of releasing large amounts of land for development, GRTU said.

This resulted in an unfair outcome, since land that was in conformity with the guidelines was not included for development purposes. GRTU contended that this was illogical and detrimental in more ways than one.

The government placed itself in a very difficult situation, since it had to decide between the needs and desires of all parties involved, GRTU said. It supports all those who feel that this exercise has been particularly unfair. GRTU feels that previous anomalies have not been rectified in a number of cases.

The process itself was subject to differing interpretation by the planning directorate, and GRTU feels that Mepa was not given enough time to carry out a just and professionally well-prepared exercise.

GRTU is particularly concerned that no appeal process exists for any persons who feel discriminated against to have redress. It is seeking legal advice to establish whether this position is compatible with local and EU law.

GRTU said that it fails to understand how Mepa and the Cabinet of Ministers took 18 long years to become aware of the fact that the “temporary” schemes needed adjustment, and then carried out this “adjustment” in less than a month and a half.

GRTU will be studying the decisions taken by Mepa and the Cabinet in more detail and will analyse the ownership of the land released for development. It is inviting members and other people from the business community to refer any issue they would like to incorporate within the GRTU analysis.