The President of the Gozo Regional Council Samuel Azzopardi has urged the Planning Authority to move faster on implementing the council’s proposals to protect the island from excessive development.

The Regional council had drawn up a document with a number of proposals. Among the proposals, the Regional Council proposes that all of Gozo and Comino be classified as Design Priority Areas. It also called for greater involvement of local councils when it comes to the local plans, master plans, urban planning and other specific policies.  It calls for more schemes to be launched encouraging the renovation and rehabilitation of old buildings in urban centres. The Council also calls on the PA to be more vigilant and careful when a number of applications are filed separately when in reality they are part of the same mega development. It also called, among other things, for the preservation of the Green Belts in Gozo, the creation of more green walls, and that permits issued for rural or agricultural purposes like sheep or poultry farms should be definite and be withdrawn when such activities cease, not be turned into other uses than were originally granted.

These and the other proposals are currently being considered by the PA.  Indeed all local councils should be involved more in policies that affect their areas. After all, who better to represent the people of the locality.

But let’s also look at the bigger picture for Malta, as well as Gozo.

The issue of excessive development is a worrying one. The government has recently been throwing the term ‘sustainable development’ around, yet what has been done to improve the visual impact of development? We need to rethink development on the island. Let’s be honest, it would take some politicians with superhuman conviction to really take action, given that the politicians in Malta seem to enjoy being chummy chummy with developers.

But that is what might actually be needed.

There is no way anyone in their right mind could call the current style of development going on in the Maltese islands sustainable. We can speak about green buildings, we can speak about reducing carbon emissions, but the elephant in the room will not be tackled… the density, hoch poch design (if you can even call it that) of Malta’s urban areas.

Flats keep rising, yet has a study been made to find out how many are sold or kept empty? Are we building chicken coops or apartments that provide dignity for residents? It’s not that we are building apartments, it’s the fact that the architects and developers have outright failed to care about the visual appeal.

The uglification of Malta and Gozo at its best.

We need planning policies that actually make sense. Yes, we can have dense areas with apartments, but those areas need large green spaces in their vicinity. No we should not have flats towering just outside UCAs. Rural towns and villages should be kept just that. Gozo has a sense of beauty and charm of what Malta once was, but even this is being destroyed. Look at Xlendi.  

Land speculation needs to be stopped. Where small applications are filed when in reality they form part of a massive project which is hidden from the PA, in an attempt to circumvent certain requirements, those applications should immediately be denied.

We need policies that make sense, that respect Malta’s heritage, and which don’t turn parts of the country into what could end up looking like slums. We should have streets with symmetry and designs that don’t contrast from one building to the next.