The campaign Ġustizzja għal Artna is calling for the immediate amendment of the current laws regulating planning appeals so that works are suspended during the appeal process, as logic dictates and as has been repeatedly promised, yet never delivered, over the past three years.

This call comes in light of the recent Court decision revoking the illegitimate permit for the overbearing 10-storey Halland Hotel in Swieqi, with the Court finding that the Planning Authority had arbitrarily chosen one policy over another in order to favour the developer. However, by the time of the ruling, the massive building had already been largely constructed.

As has occurred in countless other cases, residents who bore the burden of challenging flawed decisions by the Planning Authority were effectively denied justice. This is the consequence of a system that allows developers to proceed with construction even while a permit is under appeal and therefore not yet definitive.

The protracted saga of planning appeals reform epitomises the influence developers wield over Government. For three years, Government has acknowledged that allowing works to continue during an appeal process is absurd and has pledged to address the matter. Yet instead of implementing this necessary reform, it presented a so-called planning reform package that will dismantle Malta's key planning safeguards. The reform of planning appeals is merely one component of a broader package that caters to all developers' wildest wishes; if enacted, it will actually render planning appeals ineffective or meaningless.

Thanks to widespread public resistance, this developers' wishlist, disguised as planning reform, has, for the time being, been halted, but not withdrawn, the organisations said. "We reiterate our call for a proper and holistic reform of the planning system, beginning with the withdrawal of the current bills and proposed legal notices and the initiation of a genuine process that places the common good at its core."

In the meantime, however, the long-promised measure to suspend works while a planning appeal is underway must be implemented without delay through a straightforward amendment to the existing law.

Absurd situations such as that of the Halland Hotel would not arise if Government chose to do what is right and logical, rather than bending over backwards to appease developers.

Organisations:

BirdLife Malta

Din l-Art Ħelwa

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar

Friends of the Earth Malta

Front Żgħażagħ għall-Ambjent

Għawdix

Moviment Graffitti

Nature Trust Malta

Ramblers' Association of Malta

Wirt Għawdex