News | Sunday, 14 December 2008

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10 MEPA plans await Gonzi’s signature

James Debono
Former Environment Minister George Pullicino has left his successor an inheritance of unapproved policy papers – some of which more than five years old – which await Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s signature before becoming enforceable.
Ten policy papers – the rulebooks for various public spaces – which have been approved by MEPA’s board, are still awaiting the PM’s approval more than two years since they were drafted.
These plans cover a variety of important topics, from high-rise buildings to rules regulating rifle ranges, mineral extraction, conservation of buildings, childcare centres and the dumping of waste at sea.
But the plans can only become enforceable if approved by the minister responsible for MEPA – Lawrence Gonzi.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said the final decision on these policy documents will be taken along with MEPA’s reform process.
He added that several elements of these policies are already part of the Maltese planning regime, through the transposition of EU Directives.
Plans awaiting Gonzi’s signature include a mineral subject plan, prepared by Entec UK, which has been awaiting ministerial approval since 2003. The plan finds quarrying practices in Malta to be unsustainable and states that at current extraction levels, hard stone reserves will last for the next 34 years while soft stone reserves will last 38 years.
It also includes a total of 46 policies aimed at improving the current situation, which include a recommendation that no new quarries should be allowed by MEPA. It also recommends the importation of building aggregates, and even notes that freight handling charges in Malta were too high.
Another policy limits the development of shooting ranges to disused quarries and degraded areas. Another policy setting planning criteria for the approval of childcare facilities, has been pending since May 2006.
Likewise, a document on the applicability of the floor area ratio has been awaiting approval by the Prime Minister since 2006. The floor area ratio is the formula used to compensate for the decrease in the sprawl of a development, by allowing it to rise higher. Since 2006, at least three outline development permits have been issued for high-rise buildings, despite the absence of a national policy.
MEPA is currently considering nine new high-rise buildings which are set to tower above the skyline in various parts of the island, ranging from the 11-storey boomerang structure on the former Mistra village site, to the 32-storey high towers in Sliema and Gzira.
Furthermore, the Marfa Action plan – which regulates development on all land in Marfa north of ic-Cumnija and Ghadira, including the area currently occupied by the Armier squatters – has not even been endorsed by the MEPA board after being issued in June 2002.

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