Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar coordinator Astrid Vella has resigned from the Intelligent Planning Consultative Forum, "as we cannot continue to form part of an organisation that is essentially a sham to give credibility to the environmental authorities that are allowing certain developers to act with impunity, destroying much of Malta and Gozo in the process."

It is well known that when politicians want to appear to be doing something about an issue where they would prefer to maintain the status quo, they appoint a committee, and obfuscate. Such is the so-called Intelligent Planning Consultative Forum (IPCF), the NGO said in a statement.

When the IPCF started up in 2020, the eNGOs appointed to the Forum insisted on prioritising the most damaging planning issues. However, they were instructed to focus on non-essential issues such as green walls. In 2021, the IPCF was supposed to be dealing with planning issues but hardly met at all.

Meanwhile, untold and permanent damage is being done due to the authorities’ adamant refusal to review the increase in building heights surreptitiously slipped into Design Guidelines 2014, Annex 2. These manipulated building heights are destroying streetscapes all over Malta and Gozo, and ruining the settings of heritage buildings.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) said it cannot accept that while we were side-lined discussing marginal issues, the destruction of Maltese heritage continued unabated.  The destruction of the scheduled Fgura Razzett l-Antik, the Xewkija heritage house and the scheduled Barracuda Restaurant to name a few, continued to wipe out our architectural history and cultural identity. This is being done in violation of Malta's Constitution, and planning regulations, and in spite of opposition from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. While the Minister for the Environment is not supposed to interfere in the planning process, it is his responsibility to ensure that policies and regulation are respected.

Similarly, permits are being issued in violation of the Structure Plan, Local Plans, SPED, DC 15 and UNESCO Guidelines for World Heritage Sites, undermining residents' quality of life and Malta's sustainability. Examples include that of ITS Pembroke, the MIDI project at Manoel Island, the hotels in Sliema's residential area, the high blocks permitted in Xlendi, the massive projects in Qala, Sannat, Nadur and the hotel development under Mdina bastions.

In granting such permits, the authorities clearly demonstrate they do not care about the quality of life in our communities, or the health of residents who are being engulfed by over-development and choked by Malta's ever-increasing rates of vehicle emissions. High buildings trap pollution in narrow roads, and widening roads takes precedence over improving public transport, providing safe pavements and bicycle lanes. The silence from authorities over the 24/7 fumes emitted at Palumbo Dock which engulf the whole of Senglea, illustrate the lack of concern for residents’ health.

The ministerial attitude that NGOs have the option to appeal abusive permits is totally unacceptable. Why should NGOs and local councils spend all their financial and time resources to counter the Planning Authority's dereliction of duty?

Minister Aaron Farrugia's 2020 announcement of a review of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) has still not materialised, two years later, FAA said.

The Environment Resources Authority’s readiness to waive Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs) has accommodated destructive road projects destroying trees and ecology while roadside trees and urban gardens, essential lungs, remain unprotected and are destroyed. Projects are subdivided to avoid an EIA, in spite of this malpractice being flagged up time and again. Granting permits to projects that harm Malta's natural environment is leading to more loss of our natural heritage along cemented country lanes and the Comino foreshore.

The official hype about creating open green recreational spaces in Malta's towns and villages is belied by the PA’s blessing of the destruction of the green site of the Razzett l-Antik in Fgura, and the lack of interest in reclaiming Manoel Island for the people, its rightful owners.

The almost complete scaling down of enforcement action, along with the risible fines has created a climate of impunity enjoyed by powerful cowboy developers, at the costs of the Maltese public and its heritage, in violation of our laws and Constitution.

NGOs and the public are treated with arrogance and disrespect in the boards where the more harmful applications are decided, the FAA said. The Planning Authority and ERA consistently ignore their legal obligation to support eNGOs and make information freely available to all the public, both enshrined in the Aarhus Convention. The system of online meetings is heavily weighed in favour of developers while any improvement in favour of public participation, no matter how easy to implement, is blocked.  

Similarly, the authorities ignore NGO demands that developers are to finance infrastructural works required by their grand developments. This burden on taxpayers is a gift to developers, amounting to state aid to the construction sector.

Finally, EU laws on energy efficiency in buildings to ensure sustainable construction  are not being imposed, undermining Malta’s chances of attaining its EU Climate Change commitments. Malta's water management plan is forgotten, leaving us vulnerable to acute water shortages in case of a water emergency. 

Over the past years, Malta and especially Gozo’s urban and rural environments have deteriorated exponentially, in certain places, unrecognisably. Towns have become more chaotic due to an adamant refusal to hold capacity studies. Quality of life has deteriorated while high buildings have ruined the character and streetscapes of Malta's towns and villages and infrastructure cannot cope with the frenzied overdevelopment and increase in traffic. 

For these reasons, Astrid Vella, FAA’s representative, has resigned from the IPCF "as we cannot continue to form part of an organisation that is essentially a sham to give credibility to the environmental authorities who are allowing certain developers to act with impunity, destroying much of Malta and Gozo in the process".