While careless talk of de-pedestrianising a public open space is of deep concern, a circular on back gardens put out by the planning authority last month has been a welcome piece of news.

Back gardens and private open spaces at the back of urban properties have at long last been given importance. In the words of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority:

“These are precious as they provide green lungs which contribute to the definition of a sense of place, add character and a charm to a locality, tend to enhance property value and contribute towards a better overall urban environment.”

The acknowledgement by the authority that developers have been mercilessly devouring these green lungs, provided by large back gardens of old houses (many of which are now lost), may have come late in the day.

Things became so bad that ultimately it was felt something had to be done about the rate at which urban garden enclaves have been falling foul of the developer’s shovel over the years.

Deliberate or otherwise, misinterpretation of planning policies is more likely to happen when these are exceedingly vague. After far too many examples of magnificent back gardens with mature trees turned to dust in their entirety, Mepa has finally drawn a line in the sand. The authority has put a figure on how far a new building can encroach onto back gardens.

The original policy to preserve back gardens has not been ‘changed’ as developers tried to make out. The planning authority has simply drawn the line at 30 metres as an adequate depth from the street allowing for fair-sized developments without obliterating the green space. Developers would have to come up with an extremely good reason to get around this rule of thumb. Residents in and next to urban conservation areas will be watching.

Developers of sites with large gardens need to be better monitored to see that they abide by the limit set down as clarification of policy.

This comes about as unscrupulous developers have sadly shown they are unable to grasp the concept of prudence and self-regulation. Spelling out a clear limit will possibly help them to better understand things the way our urban planners intended.