An environmental initiative will be launched by Din l-Art Ħelwa this week that is backed by six former and serving presidents of the organisation drawing attention to the lack of safeguards to protect the countryside.

This is the first time in 50 years of the organisation’s work to protect Malta’s environmental and cultural heritage that the NGO felt compelled to launch an initiative for more adequate plans to stem rampant development.

The concerns are a result of a string of policies introduced by the planning authority in the absence of a structure plan to guide development policies. The rural development policy is of particular concern to the organisation.

The government has taken a conscious decision to bypass Parliament where essential decisions concerning development and land use are concerned, according to Din L-Art Ħelwa. The NGO said that removing these elements from the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) and inserting them in local plans instead, the government is trying to ensure that the strategic direction of land use until 2020 will no longer be determined in full transparency by Parliament but will now be determined by a minister alone.

Mepa launched the Structure Plan for public consultation last March.

The plan is a legislative requirement resulting from the Environment and Development Planning Act of 2010 (EDPA).

It should replace the policies and plans included in the Structure Plan adopted in 1992. The EDPA stipulates the Structure Plan must set out policies on use of land and sea together with a justification for each policy and proposal included. For this reason, Din L-Art Ħelwa said the new draft Structure Plan is out of line with the EDPA.

The organisation is stressing that decisions which, to date, require the approval of Parliament should continue to be the responsibility of Parliament.

This can be done either by ensuring that the draft SPED be revised to include these matters or that the local plans currently being revised are discussed and approved by Parliament.

In an effort to raise public awareness on the need for more adequate environmental protection, Din L-Art Ħelwa will be launching a campaign inviting the public to raise their concerns about the issue. The organisation will then present a policy paper with recommendations to the government.

“A string of new building policies and local plans are being drafted without a clear vision of the future urban landscape.

“It’s like constructing a series of rooms without an architect’s plan of the whole building,” said board member Petra Caruana Dingli.