The Government created a media and campaign mess with a senseless decision to publish the planning law reform on Friday, without any explanation or clarification, and then started talking about it the following Monday, former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Saturday.

"The narrative had already taken hold, and now the Government is working behind the scenes to convince genuine people about a change that is essentially good," he said in a Facebook post.

Yesterday week, the government published two bills to reform the planning sector, proposals which were met with disdain by environmental groups and the opposition. Only the Malta Developers Association welcomed the proposal.

Muscat said that when I read the reaction of many to the changes in the planning law, "I became very concerned. This was because I took it as fact that the criticism being made had been thoroughly studied, and I worried that the Government had stumbled badly, especially since there were many genuine people who spoke to me with concern."

It is being said that the Planning Authority and the Minister will be able to completely ignore existing policies, change building heights, and regularize illegal developments. This is both true and false, Muscat said, because that's already the current situation. The change is that instead of undergoing a partial Local Plan review, it will now be the Executive Council of the Planning Authority that considers these applications when 75% or more of the owners involved are in agreement. These changes must still be brought before the Parliamentary Planning Committee, Muscat said.

"It is being said that the Minister will be able to renew expired permits. This is true. NGOs are right, and there is no need to include this power in the law. This procedure was used exceptionally during the pandemic, and if exceptional circumstances arise again, the same process can be used without needing to enshrine it in law," Muscat said.

It is true that the new policies will override the local plans, and it should be so. "At last, there will be clarity where previously there were many interpretations. There were instances when the Court itself decided that a policy should take precedence over a Local Plan. The Local Plans are based on a structure plan that was created in 1992. A few years ago, a new structure plan, known as SPED, was practically approved. It is obvious that when there is a conflict, the more recent plan should prevail. Creating a new policy involves a transparent consultation process that includes Parliament," he said.

It is also true that a person will only be able to appeal on technical grounds, breaches of policies, or breaches of the law. "However, this is already the current situation," he said.

"It is being said that there will only be 20 days to apply for an appeal. This is both true and false. The appeal period has been reduced from 30 to 20 days. However, an additional 10 days are now being introduced after the technical report is issued, during which a person can amend their objection. So essentially, there are still 30 days," Muscat said.

Muscat said it is true that if an appeal is deemed frivolous, one could be fined €5,000 without the right to contest it. "This already exists and the fine is currently €2,500. Appeals must be serious, not filed just to take a chance or as a negotiation tactic. It's the lawyer's job to properly guide their clients and not just open cases casually. The Court itself has said that the way objections are currently made needs to be better regulated."

Muscat said it is also true that the Court cannot revoke a permit and must instead send the case back to the Planning Tribunal. The Court can annul a decision but must send it back to the Planning Authority so the Tribunal can act according to the Court's ruling. The Planning Authority cannot become a Court, but likewise, the Court cannot become the Planning Authority, the former PM said.

"It is being said," Muscat added, "that if an appeal takes longer than five months, anything built after that period becomes legal. This is false. The period is 10 months, not five, and applies jointly to the Court and Tribunal. Why should they take longer than that? This is an incentive for decisions to be made without delays. What nobody is saying is that currently, a person can start construction work (at their own risk) before the appeal is decided. This right will now be removed."

What is not being said is that, up until today, to build a canopy that isn't visible from anywhere in your yard, you needed a permit. Now you won't, Muscat said.

Also not being said is that the fine for illegal developments is increasing from €50 to €2,000 per day, and the cap on these fines is being removed. This is a very strong step against abuse, he said.