The Planning Authority's attempt to argue that NGOs have no right to appeal to major projects because a member of its board represents the e-NGO sector as a whole is "shocking", Din l-Art Ħelwa said today.

The NGO was referring to the first appeals hearing of the controversial Town Square project in Sliema, which was held on Thursday at the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.

The right of NGOs to appeal is enshrined in the new legislation, which was approved by Parliament only recently, DLĦ said in a statement.

The right to appeal was flagged by the government as one of the major improvements of the recent Mepa demerger.

The NGO said it hoped the plea will not be upheld since it has no legal basis. The government must assure the public that any potential flaw in the law or in the planning structure should have been brought up earlier and not at the first appeal heard under the new legislation and on one of Malta's most controversial projects.

"Contrary to what has been promised by the government, the Planning Authority is blatantly trying to deny access to justice in environmental matters for e-NGOs, which is also a fundamental principle of the Aarhus Convention."