A recent call by independent MP Marlene Farrugia to put a stop to proposed works on large scale developments, to give the government enough time to analyse the social, economic and environmental impact of such projects, has been dubbed by the Malta Developers’ Association as “crazy” and intentionally misquoted as being a request to stop construction altogether in order to discredit it.

The call for a moratorium, backed up by other independent organisations, is far from crazy or suggestive of ‘straitjacket’ policies, to stick with the terminology in vogue.

The appeal does not aim to deter the construction industry but simply ensure that, prior to the approval of such developments, the government would have conducted a thorough and comprehensive analysis that takes full consideration of the adverse effects these projects will have as a whole on both the immediate and surrounding areas encroaching these sites.

The moratorium asks that projects are not screened on a case-by-case basis but are viewed holistically as a series of developments that will each add the impact envisioned. Such an approach would be necessary to ensure the safeguarding of nearby residents and their quality of life.

The government is practically giving developers a free hand to draw out which sites and roads would best fit their needs

Furthermore, the moratorium calls for a comprehensive, sustainable and feasible action plan set out by the government to prepare for the evident major load which will be felt across various infrastructural divisions ranging from sewage treatment facilities to road networks, which are all already overburdened.

Although guidelines for tall buildings were set in the FAR policy of 2014, the document still falls short of providing the master plan for such developments to be read as a whole. Through this policy, it is clear that any application is being processed on an individual basis, blind to the impact of other large-scale developments also in the pipeline. Such a blinkered approach to application processing is an evasion of responsibility that the Planning Authority, charged with safeguarding this country’s built environment, should not be allowed to do.

Also, the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), which is meant to serve as the country’s master plan when deciding on the necessity of such developments, does not make any clear reference to towers or high rise buildings. Rather than a master plan, the document is an admirable idea committing itself to no actual plans or legislations that would allow its conscientious approach to policymaking to actually materialise.

The updated local plans which the SPED refers to – the basis on which the SPED is read – have not yet been published. So, rather than the government creating a structured framework in which developers will carry out projects, we are in a situation where developers are being given the opportunity to choose where to develop as they please within broadly defined zones with no regard to the implications such developments would bring.

The government is practically giving developers a free hand to draw out which sites and roads would best fit their needs rather than devising the structure that best suits the country and its people, which developers would have to adhere to.

It would be ‘crazy’ to go ahead with this and to keep allowing developers to work within such liberal parameters in a country already overrun by traffic congestion and characterised by overcrowded urban cores. Only once the necessary guidelines have been put together and probed through public consultation can the Planning Authority even begin to consider screening applications of this kind.

If developers’ concern is lack of work, they needn’t fret too much. Seeing to all the infrastructure required to sustain these developments will keep a good number of companies active for many years to come and would further ensure that, once these projects are actioned, the island will not be brought to a standstill but could actually keep developing smartly and sustainably as any other developed nation in the EU would be expected to.

Tara Cassar is Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar’s environmental officer.

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