I refer to the article ‘Political will, not Mepa split would protect environment’ (July 7) where it was stated that “if the planners remain the ones with the power, nothing is going to change”.

As the article rightly points out it is the political will that determines whether environment protection and proper planning coexist.

It is understood that planning development cannot go ahead without environmental protection and social considerations.

Mepa’s past performance has unfortunately given planning a negative connotation.

Developers state that planning stifles economic development and environmentalists say planning has degraded the environment. Unfortunately, proper and effective planning has not been allowed to evolve and mature on this island.

Planning had to go througha learning curve, however, pressure on politicians fromparticular factions protecting their self-interest led to a situation where planning policies were devised to appease such groups rather than the common good. This cannot be called proper planning.

Over the years, proper planning was only given lip service and the measures implemented were far from what proper planning would have achieved had there been genuine political will.

The Malta Chamber of Planners has always sought to champion proper planning and seek recognition for the profession regulated by a code of ethics. Various other professions present themselves as planning experts, adding to confusion and misunderstanding.

No, the power is not inthe hands of well-meaning planners who seek the common good and an appropriate balance between development and environmental protection.

Don Quixote says: “For neither good nor evil can last for ever; and so it follows that as evil has lasted a long time, good must now be close at hand.”

Unfortunately, for the well-meaning planners, this good is still far from sight.

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