The planning authority’s fast-track system for minor developments is becoming more popular, with an 11 per cent increase in applications registered last year.

Through a simplified notification process, local councils or the government can make amendments to road laying and street lighting, businesses can request the placing of tables and chairs, and residents can make internal alterations in their homes.

Known as Development Notification Orders, the system is covered by a legal notice that exempts a range of minor developments from full development permit application procedures.

The notification order was introduced in 2001 but the list of these small-scale interventions has been continually revised to include projects that can do away with the intense planning process and get implemented in a faster and simpler way, according to a planning authority spokesman.

Last year the system was updated to applications for the installation of secondary storages of fuel, placing of caravans and camps, hiring of deckchairs and umbrellas, lifeguard installations and kiosks, monuments and works of art and the clearing of valleys.

Businesses can also file a notification order to build or extend a factory in an industrial estate run by Malta Industrial Parks. However, the factory has to be included in the area’s master plan.

Starting from last year, the planning authority started informing applicants who submitted a full development application that they could use a notification order – once the specific planning criteria were satisfied. These changes and updates – together with the ongoing planning authority reform – has led to an 11 per cent increase in the requests for the notification system with 1,458 filed in 2011, compared to 1,324 filed in 2010, according to the spokesman.

Another “positive amendment” to the notification system is the inclusion of construction of under­ground reservoirs.

This development, which only requires a notification, “favours underground reservoirs to those above soil level which will still require a full permit”, the spokesman said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.