Many Mepa policies are 'obsolete or conflicting'
Review commission given new task
The planning authority can do away with many of its policies that are either obsolete or conflicting, a review commission has concluded.
This would make the planning process faster, better and more consistent, the commission says in a set of recommendations presented to the government yesterday.
The commission was tasked with examining the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's structural policies and analyse if any overlap or are obsolete. Its review forms part of the process of reforming the regulator and the report will be made public when it is tabled in Parliament in March at the beginning of the debate on the Mepa Reform Bill.
However, architect David Pace, who headed the commission, yesterday outlined the recommendations.
Mr Pace said the commission was immediately concerned by the sheer number and complexity of policy documents and it decided to take a fresh approach to make the planning process easier to handle.
The review covers the Structure Plan, which is the overarching set of planning guidelines; the local plans that cover different regions; other smaller plans and briefs, as well as supplementary planning guidelines and circulars to architects issued by the planning authority on a regular basis.
In the Structure Plan, it was found that 29 per cent of policies were not even related to planning. This document had envisaged the preparation of 24 local plans but over the years only seven were approved.
The commission recommended a reduction in the number of planning documents to consist of main legislation and legal notices, the replacement of the Structure Plan by a National Spatial Planning Strategy and just three local plans, for the east and west of Malta and for Gozo.
The commission also proposed to have one plan on marine environment and development of coastal areas and four supplementary planning guidelines: on urban conservation areas, outside development zones, development zones and marine development.
The review also concluded that planning boards should focus on considering development applications rather than matters related to policies. Departures from approved policies would have to be decided at a political level, the commission said.
Once the reform process was carried out, the policy documents would be published in one book, it recommended.
The Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Mario de Marco welcomed the recommendations, adding that the reform would help the authority become more transparent, user-friendly and consistent.
He said the report had been passed on to the planning authority for its analysis.
Dr de Marco said the commission had now been given a new task: to review the process of development notification orders, which allow for minor development without the need to apply for formal permits. The idea, he said, was to widen the concept without increasing the possibility of abuse.