The government needs to consider what local plans are needed in the next 50 years and see if the Nationalist Party’s local plans can be amended, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning Aaron Farrugia has said.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said last Tuesday that the government’s hands are tied when it comes to curbing development in Malta, as the government is confined to the local plans introduced by the Nationalist Party back in 2006.

While Abela said he did not agree with the plan introduced in 2006, he said it is not simple for the government to change the local plan, given that the plan created rights and benefits for property owners.

Farrugia said that the current government has not touched the PN’s plan that was put in place 15 years ago.

“The Prime Minister said that the changes that happened in this country in 2005 and 2006 were local plans of another government,” he said. From that time till now, it’s important to keep in mind that the Labour Party did not change anything and is getting along with the plans of the government of 2006.

Farrugia said that local plans will not be ignored, but be reviewed through the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED).

“We are looking at the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) review”, he said. “Once there is a review, we will see if the local plans can be changed and how they can be changed”.

“We need to consider the next 50 years and see what change is needed and what demographics are needed,” he said. “This will guide us with what buildings are needed”.

One such person who voiced his concern about over-development in Malta was Qala Mayor Paul Buttigieg, who warned that Ħondoq ir-Rummien remains under the threat of development, and that it should be protected by becoming an Outside Development Zone (ODZ).

Asked about his stance on the campaign to return Ħondoq ir-Rummien to an ODZ, Farrugia said that he understands the significance the area holds for many Maltese and Gozitans alike.

“I am informed that there were many applications in the area across the years and all of them were refused, so I understand the thought behind this place,” he said.

He said that he respects the Mayor of Qala, who has worked hard to protect the area and looks forward to hearing a public discourse on what should be done to the area.

“I look forward to these subjects being discussed more in our country, not only in Ħondoq”, he said. “There are diverse zones that the country should continue looking towards because the Maltese and Gozitan population are saying that we need more recreational zones now and in the future,” he said.