MEPA’s Strategic Environmental Assessment Audit Team considers that in the particular case of the changes being proposed to the planning boundary extensions, “the process is at a stage when it is not feasible to carry out a strategic environmental assessment”.

This conclusion emerged in a letter sent by the chairman of the unit, Chris Ciantar, to MEPA’s chairman Andrew Calleja. The letter was dated 20 July but it was only released yesterday. Mr Ciantar was replying to a letter sent by Mr Calleja on 12 July.

The reasons adduced by the Audit Team are:

• The preparation of the local plans, some of which were initiated way back in 1991 with the most recent starting in 1999, has gone through a series of consultation processes that yielded a considerable input to include land, which is currently outside the development zone, in the development zone;

• MEPA made a series of recommendations on which areas, from those requests received during the respective consultation process, should be released for further development;

• Over and above the recommendations made by MEPA, Cabinet issued a number of criteria as a basis on which any request, provided that this was submitted during the consultation process, should be met. The input by Cabinet in this process is in accordance with the provisions of the Development Planning Act;

• The scheme rationalisation exercise forms part of the on-going local plan preparation, is not considered as a standalone exercise and no new requests were included other than those submitted during the consultation process; and

• The resolution to give effect to the partial structure plan review necessitated by the said scheme rationalisation has been tabled in Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Development Planning Act on 5 July 2007.

The Audit Team, on the strength of Regulation 9 of LN 418/2005, The Strategic Environment Assessment Regulations 2005, that transpose Directive 2001/42/EC on the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment, finds that this process is exempt from requiring a strategic environment assessment because:

The first preparatory work was initiated well before July 2004 and was already at a very advanced stage by that date; and

The legislative process to give full effect to the local plans, including the partial structure plan review, is by no means in the strategic phase but has, on the contrary, reached its final stages so much so that the process has been submitted to the legislative process by virtue of the above-mentioned parliamentary resolution.