(Adds government, Mepa reactions)

Environment NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said today that a government decision allowing Mepa to reduce fines imposed for planning abuse institutionalises abuse.

However, the government said in a statement this afternoon that this was already permitted under the previous administration through a legal notice.

Individuals, the government said, could already petition against fines they would have been given.

In another reply, the planning authority said the new legal notice was intended to address situations where the daily fine imposed would not be in proportion to the illegality committed.

In its statement FAA said: "This is a planning regress. It  seeks to reverse the 2011 introduction of stricter daily fines.

It explained that the government is now inviting abusers to make submissions to “specify the impelling reason or reasons why the penalty established in the [2011] notice should not be paid, as well as the manner in which the fine is to be varied.” 

Since when do we allow wrong-doers to decide their own punishment, FAA asked.

It observed that a Mepa committee has been set up to deal with these requests, however no policies or parameters have been published in order to guide this committee in an accountable and equitable manner.

Moreover, the decision was issued by Government directly, rather than being initiated by Mepa and presented for public consultation.

"This is a very ominous development which has already been used when Government invited developers to submit projects for land reclamation, side-stepping the need to issue a policy subject to consultation and EU scrutiny."

Along with the ‘planning amnesty’ announced in February 2015 to sanction up to 10,000 long-standing illegal developments, this latest reduction of fines was yet another policy reinforcing the message to the public that in Malta crime pays.

In October 2014 MEPA announced a new policy, removing the obligation for developers to obtain consent of at least 75% of neighbours in cases of changes in zoning or street alignment.

"Was this done in order to facilitate the processing of planning control applications or in order to aid developers?" FAA asked.

Mepa said the previous legal provisions did not allow for any form of flexibility to reflect the circumstances of any particular case. The only redress for the applicant/contravener was to lodge a petition at the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.

The provisions of the new legal notice allowed for a swifter and more streamlined process, whereby a sub-committee composed of three of the board members would consider the request for a reconsideration to the imposed daily fine.

The subcommittee meetings would be held in public and the decisions would also be made public.

Fines subject to review under this notice and agreed upon between the authority and the applicant could not be appealed upon in front of the tribunal.

However, if the submission for a reduction of the daily fine by an amount as requested by the applicant was not accepted, the applicant would still have the right to submit an appeal before the tribunal.

NEW TRAFFIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

FAA also observed in its statement that last week, Mepa announced a downgrading of Traffic Impact Assessment requirements. A Simplified Traffic Statement - is being introduced, so that most large projects which would require a full Traffic Impact Assessment, now only need a Simplified Traffic Statement, in order to “reduce the burden on developers”.

"All these policies and Legal Notices have been drafted with the sole aim of facilitating more development, with no consideration for the long-term benefit of residents or for Malta’s environment," FAA said.

Mepa said in its reply these changes were necessary since the former process had adopted UK procedures back in the mid-1990s when traffic studies in Malta were non-existent.

Over the last 20 years, it built up an archive of traffic impact statement and was now in a position to review the process and improve the system, based on actual experience in this field. The system was now more attuned to the local context and situation.

DWEJRA BOATHOUSES UP FOR CONSIDERATION AGAIN

FAA also noted that tomorrow, the Mepa Board is to debate applications for boathouses at Dwejra, Gozo, which had been refused in 2011.

"These cases were going through the Appeals Tribunal – how they are to appear before the MEPA Board is anybody’s guess," it said.

"The boathouse saga all over our islands is synonymous with environmental mismanagement, poor governance, political manipulation, cronyism and lack of political courage."

Mepa said it had been instructed by the tribunal to re-evaluate and take a decision not only on the six planning applications cases pertaining to the boathouses in Dwejra but on all other similar cases it had before it prior to it taking a final decision.

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