ENGOs have a number of hopes for 2021 to help improve the environment, and described a number of them to this newsroom in an article that was published last Sunday.

Among other things, some spoke of the need to review certain policies, such as those which allow the construction of massive developments in areas which do not have the infrastructure to handle it. Another suggestion was to change the way policies are created, as no locality is the same as another and so policies allowing a certain building height in one locality might not be suited for another.

These two points are particularly interesting. It is true that no locality is like any other, and so allowing a certain number of floors in one type of area in Sliema might not mean the same would be beneficial to the same type of area in Zebbug, for instance. Perhaps a new approach to planning might be in order.

Many people have complained about the intensity of development in the country and how some areas like St Julian’s and Sliema have seen massive projects being built. But the question remains as to whether the infrastructure in these localities can sustain such developments. The PA needs to pay more attention to residents of these areas and also consider the wider implications of such projects on the surrounding areas.

Aside from heavy development, there is also the issue of a lack of green spaces in urban communities and the take-up of pavements by tables and chairs.  Sometimes tables and chairs on pavements force pedestrians into the street which can be quite dangerous. This was yet another issue highlighted.

One NGO had suggested strengthening the protection of Malta’s natural and urban heritage in the constitution, and mentioned that civil society should have stronger powers to prevent any damage to such heritage. Indeed governments over the years have not done a great job when it comes to protecting natural heritage or even heritage buildings. Perhaps giving more powers to civil society to keep the government and developers in check on such issues could be a good thing. How many times have we seen scheduled buildings have their façade retained and but an eyesore of a building erected above it? How many times have massive developments in green areas been proposed? At the same time, of course, one would need to ensure that if there are any disputes they would be able to be quickly resolved.

This is not to say that the government has not done anything good for the environment. It has, such as by banning the importation of certain single-use plastic goods and by planting a large number of trees, but there have been other issues which counter these. The most obvious is over-development and the uprooting of trees for more roads.

ENGOs are the voice of Malta’s environment and hopefully the government could consider implementing some of their ideas.