The setting up and set-up of Mepa

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) is the designated competent authority for two primary portions of Maltese legislation - the Development Planning Act (Cap 356 of 1992) and the Environment Protection Act (Cap 435 of 2001). Mepa as it is known today resulted from the former Planning Authority being given the role of competent authority for environmental protection under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) in 2001. Since the general election of 2008, Mepa falls within the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). This is symptomatic of the government's commitment to reform with a view to improving the built environment and safeguarding our natural environment and heritage.

Mepa was set up to act as a regulator in both the planning and environmental sectors. It is also vested with policy-making powers in respect of land use and planning. Over the years, Mepa has grown to employ over 400 people, with approximately 60 per cent of these occupying clerical and technical positions and 40 per cent professionals. It is recognised that the distribution of human resources is quite uneven between its planning and environment arms as staff attached to the Environment Protection Directorate (EPD) account for less than half of the human resources within the Development Planning Directorate (DPD). Over 70 per cent of the staff within EPD are professionals as compared to the 45 per cent in the DPD.

The Development Planning Act (DPA) established Mepa through the setting up of the Mepa board, to be composed of a maximum of 15 members, one of which is the chairman of the authority. The Mepa board acts as the central guidance to Mepa's operations and provides direction for the planning and environment directorates. It also acts as the decision-making body in the granting of certain development and environmental permits.

The DPA also provides for the establishment of commissions, advisory boards and committees, together with other structures, in order to assist the authority to perform its functions. Mepa currently has three Development Control Commissions (DCCs), operating on a part-time basis, which are delegated with the decision-making authority related to applications for development permits. The caseload is divided among the three DCCs as follows:

• DCC Division A - applications for development mainly in white areas, villa development, major projects and applications falling outside the development zone;

• DCC Division B - applications for development in development boundary, referred to as inside scheme, and industrial areas; and

• DCC Division C - applications for development mainly in Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs) and village cores.

From an organisational perspective, Mepa's operations are characterised by the work of five main structures, namely:

Chairman's office - provides leadership and direction in the light of its executive role and also acts as the central interface for communications and relations with government entities, stakeholders and the general public, acting also as the coordinating body for the various boards and committees operating within Mepa.

Director-general's office - was set up to coordinate Mepa's two main arms - planning and environment - with a view to respect the principles of sustainable development. It is also responsible for managing Malta's obligations in respect of planning and the environment emanating from both the European Union (EU) and international bodies. The position of director-general has been vacant since last January.

Development planning directorate - formulates and implements development plans at both a national and local level within a sustainable development context. The policy function undertaken by Mepa lies mainly with the Forward Planning Unit which is entrusted with the formulation of land use policy and strategic planning. Perhaps the operations which characterise this directorate in the eyes of the public are its development control and enforcement functions.

Environment protection directorate - is responsible for the regulation of all activities which impact or might potentially impact the environment. This directorate formulates strategies, regulations and guidelines, monitors their adherence and regulates activities that may negatively impact the environment through a licensing and permitting system.

Corporate services directorate - manages the financial, human and other resources within Mepa.

In 2008, Mepa processed over 6,000 applications for development permits. As can be seen from Figure 1 above, applications for development within the development boundaries account for over 50 per cent of Mepa's planning caseload. Applications for development in UCAs and Outside Development Zones (ODZs) each account for over one sixth. The pending caseload over the three-year period, 2006-2008, stood at over 4,000 first decisions and over 1,000 reconsiderations.