Who needs locality plans?

Since the set-up of the Planning Authority in 1992, planning in Malta has come a long way. I remember our first attempts at formulating today's Local Plans. It was a clear uphill struggle - we had to introduce the concept of planning. In those times, who needed to plan ahead?

This applied to public bodies, who were meant to contribute to the land use strategy for the next 10 years but instead were comfortable with a non-planning system that gave them all the flexibility they needed.

We now have the Structure Plan and the Local Plans system in place, even though some are desperately crying out for a review. And the public who, through NGOs, take the public consultation process for granted. The environmental agenda has taken an important role in society. Above all, we have a development lobby that acknowledges that it needs to act within the planning framework, even though there are still too many cowboys around. This is truly the work of a generation, and perceptions towards planning have really made a huge turnaround since the early days.

In the meantime, local councils have also found their place in the political system and in the administration of their localities. This brings us to the next step in the planning evolutionary process. Localities need to have their own plans, heavily biased on implementation.

The aim should not be to go against the provisions of the Structure Plan and the relative Local Plans, even though these put national needs before local ones. The aim should be to interpret them to the particular local situation, refine them, and serve as the springboard for both formulation of land use policy in the future and for implementation of projects.

Combined with proper management techniques, such locality plans will have many advantages and improvements on today's system. This bottom-up approach will revolutionise public consultation as we know it today. The meaning of the phrase will change, as it will be an empowerment process for the local population. The contribution of local councils in the formulation of Local Plans by Mepa will increase enormously. Any conflicts with today's Local Plans will be immediately addressed.

There are many more advantages. Locality plans will be more specific than current planning documents. They will be the basis for local council feedback to Mepa in relation to development applications. This will bring transparency all the way down in the process. They will form the basis on which Mepa Local Plans will be formulated. Local Plans will be the medium where top-down central policy meets bottom-up localised aspirations. It will be a merger of ideas.

Not only so, but locality plans will make it easier for local councils to request funding from central government or to participate in EU projects. They will also make it easier for government agencies to understand what the particular local councils want to do in their locality - what their real vision is. It will hence make the approval of local council budgets a much smoother process.

Locality plans will introduce the management aspect that Mepa's Local Plans lack. We all know that local plans do not adequately address implementation. Locality plans will. They will give more focus to local council work and improve the current seemingly ad hoc decision-making process. The result will be a more comprehensive and structured approach. These are the benefits of combining physical planning with business planning.

Finally, locality plans will be an opportunity to present continuity when councillors change, especially if a mayor of a different political party is elected.

As the initial planning process met with much resistance one generation ago, will today's do the same? Or will it show its true mettle to the future generation?

Mr Magri, a land use planning specialist, forms part of the team at Mangion, Mangion and Partners.

vmagri@mmp.com.mt