The Democratic Party has urged the Environment and Resources Authority to appeal the Planning Authority’s recent approval of high rise developments seeing that a promised masterplan on high rise has not yet been completed.

The PD said Minister Edward Zammit Lewis had told the House Business Committee that the government was working on a masterplan for the Paceville area, which would be presented to the Parliamentary Environment Committee both before and after public consultation.

"How can the ERA put people’s minds at rest and convince them that it is a shield for the environment, that the environment and its sustainability are safeguarded, when we do not have a holistic national masterplan?"

The PD also asked why the correspondence between ERA Chairman Victor Axiaq and the PA had not been published, adding that it had faith in the professor on a personal basis.

“People deserve the immediate clarification of facts and the ERA should do its job.”