Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that the two parliamentary bills the government tabled in Parliament are "certainly not a win for developers."

Speaking on Sunday morning, Abela said that most developers did not want the government to proceed with this reform.

Speaking on ONE, the Prime Minister defended the two proposed bills: Bill 143 which aims to amend the Development Planning Act and Bill 144 that is looking to reform the appeals process.

While discussing these planning reforms, Abela stated that in spite of public criticisms against these changes, the proposed bills will benefit project objectors, not developers. He saod that developers are comfortable under the present system.

"If there is a single winner - and there is a big winner in this reform - it is the objector," the Prime Minister said.

In this regard, PM Abela called recent reactions stating that the government wants to reduce objectors' rights to appeal a development as "a perversion of the truth."

He noted that instead, these reforms aim to empower objectors and provide equality of arms.

The Prime Minister said that once this appeals reform is enacted, "when a permit has been granted and an objector has appealed, until the tribunal and the Court of Appeal make their decisions, that developer will not be allowed to build."

He said that this is the most crucial measure within this entire appeals reform, noting that present laws "have created nothing but problems" and that with people often being almost incentivised to take such risks and proceed with their construction, they often would.

Prime Minister Robert Abela told viewers that the planned reforms are built on three principles to regulate planning in the country: they aim to promote discipline within these processes, as well as clarity and certainty. He added that the law today does not satisfy either developers or objectors.

He said that with present laws, which he reminded were introduced by past PN administrators, a planning application receives an objection, and a permit is granted, resulting in the objector filing an appeal through the tribunal. He continued that the following day, the developer proceeds with their development anyway and by the time the Court of Appeal declares to side with the objector, this development would have already been completed.

He added that historically, demolition is not typically the method undertaken following such scenarios for various reasons.

The Prime Minister referenced personal stories he has heard from citizens affected by such situations. One such scenario he recounted involved a family that spent its life savings to purchase their home, only to realise that the home they bought fell under these circumstances. He observed that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other cases like this across the country.

PM Abela added that these reforms will deter appeals filed without legal basis and with intents to cause delays, potentially due to personal underlying issues between the developer and the objector involved. In addition, the timeframe for when appeals must be given by the tribunal is to change to five months, plus an extension of one month if necessary. Additionally, the Court of Appeal's deadline to decide on such cases will be four months plus the same one-month extension.

The Prime Minister addressed concerns that the right to appeal has been reduced, as the window to file an appeal will be reduced from 30 days to 20 days. Abela cited his personal experience as a lawyer within the Planning Authority himself, saying that these are fair and "sufficient" deadlines nonetheless.

The Prime Minister also commented that implementing a 10-day reduction here is not going to turn the entire appeals process on its head.

Abela defended the intention to introduce fines against frequent objectors. He said that this is being introduced so that people only file appeals when it is legally justified.

Abela affirmed that this is a positive reform for objectors and applicants alike. He added that this will be discussed in Parliament in "no rush."

During this interview, the Prime Minister also dismissed concerns which emerged earlier this week that the NGO representative on the Planning Authority's board had been removed without any prior consultation. PM Abela observed that "this is not true at all."

Prime Minister Abela commented that he had initially announced the intent to heed this reform on a tribunal level and, subsequently, in front of the Court of Appeal over two years ago, during a speech of his in 2023's Workers' Day. He said that this has taken the government two years to announce onto its working agenda because it wanted to implement a holistic reform and has therefore been conducting internal discussions to see the optimal way forward.

The Prime Minister also stated that the government shall be reopening a regularisation process for illegally constructed past developments. This regularisation process will affect those buildings that were not affected by the 2016 regularisation process, i.e., it will affect those built before 1994.

He said that there are some 5,000 developments not conformant to the law across the Maltese islands today that he knows of, and through this extension of the 2016 regularisation process, such plots will be requested to regularise for a sum of €300,000.

People who do not want to pay so much money to regularise their place will have a problem with the authorities, "even though they've been comfortable for the past 30 years," the Prime Minister said.

Developments which came after 1994 will not be given the option to regularise, however, they will be able to be given a concession worth €150,000. These concessions will not give any person the right to redevelop and amend this plot, the Prime Minister added.

The Prime Minister said that this money will fund environmental projects that will benefit local communities, such as the construction of outdoor gyms, tree-planting initiatives, etc.

He noted that at present, there exists an admittedly weak deterrent of €50 daily against having such plots - this deterrent has often been seen as worthwhile for such developers, the Prime Minister admitted. As a result, these daily fines are to increase to up to €2,000 daily.

PM Abela clarified that those who develop in a manner not compliant with the law will be attacked with direct action, i.e., demolishment.

During this interview, the Prime Minister also dismissed comments that the government is attempting to introduce these reforms "behind closed doors" during a period when Parliament is typically already in its summer recess. On this, Abela observed that he finds it strange that the House of Representatives adjourns for the three principal summer months every year, saying that he was elected to work all-year round. Hence, he believes this culture should be addressed.