In his article Planning Watch on MaltaToday of 19 October, I noted once again that architect Robert Musumeci keeps harping on the fact that where an application is refused by reason of a change in planning policy, the developers should be granted financial compensation.
On that same line of thought, shouldn’t residents in adjacent houses be granted compensation for having their property devalued, their privacy encroached upon and their access to proper daylight and air compromised irrevocably? More often than not, adjacent houses suffer structural and other damage and unless they are ready to go to court, most people end up having to rely on the goodwill of the contractor and as a rule, compensation is unthinkable.
Objectors are considered a hindrance to progress but on the other hand new developments do not offer better living conditions and architecturally speaking, we just get more of the same.
Mr Musumeci identifies potential developers with ‘John Citizen’ and completely dismisses the citizens who suffer the negative impact of these developments. Aren’t they to be considered ‘John Citizens’, too? It is evident that in drawing up the Local Plans for each area, the in-depth 16-year study by the authorities neglected very important considerations such as the potentially negative impact on the environment and on the residents themselves. The provisions were drawn up without proper public consultation as attested by many local councils, including Attard.
Many residents have been constrained to struggle with the authorities to protect what is rightfully theirs, and in most cases their objections are overruled.
I am certain that Mr Musumeci is aware that developers’ sole aim is to make a good profit thereby cramming in as many units as possible in a restricted area with little care for the aesthetic value or proper living conditions they are providing for prospective buyers. When their developments do not comply with legal provisions and limitations, objections by individuals are more often than not overruled, and the general feeling now is that of hopelessness among the public in general.
I would have thought that as mayor and member of a local council, the interest of the common citizens and the preservation of their quality of life should be Mr Musumeci’s priority above every other.
The following quote by Johan Rockstrom, executive director of the Stockholm Environment Institute, sums it up perfectly: “The financial crises is just another nail in the coffin of a system that seeks economic growth while ignoring wider human wellbeing.”

C. Bezzina
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