Developers with expired building permits have been granted an automatic one-year extension.

The concession will apply to permits issued after August 2006 when the local plans were approved, according to Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia.

Building permits carry a five-year deadline by when work will have to start on the site. The Government decision effectively targets permits issued between 2006 and 2008, which have either expired or are about to.

Dr Farrugia said that 265 permits will be given an automatic extension until March next year.

He said the move was a stopgap measure targeting developers who may have found it difficult to pursue their investment when the financial crisis struck in 2008.

It is also intended to provide a temporary solution for expired permits until the planning reform is concluded, he added. But the Government was willing to consider a further extension if the Malta Environment and Planning Authority split was not in place by next year.

The Government wants to hive off the environmental function of Mepa into a separate authority and undertake a planning policy reform in the process.

Dr Farrugia said the extension will enable developers to go ahead with their work without the need to go through the planning process again to renew a permit.

Unlike developers, the decision did not go down well with environmentalists.

Flimkien għall-Ambjent Aħjar, a green group, said the permit extension came at a time when most towns and villages were saturated by over-development.

“After Mepa’s misguided new policy to allow hotels to build an additional two floors, and the Government’s encouragement of land reclamation, it seems clear that this administration is determined to fulfil all pre-election promises to the development sector, while ignoring its obligation to protect public health,” FAA said.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com