Many developments will no longer need to submit “unnecessary” traffic impact assessments thanks to a major overhaul aimed at reducing bureaucracy.
Addressing a press conference, planning authority chairman Vince Cassar said this was the first update to the system since the traffic impact assessment requirement was introduced along with the planning authority back in 1992. Over the years, several reports had been drafted, indicating that assessments did not need to be carried out on all developments.
“We have found a trend where certain types of developments were repeatedly carrying out assessments which showed there would be no impact on traffic whatsoever. We have decided to do away with these and to simplify the process in general,” Mr Cassar said.
In fact, out of the 121 impact assessment forms that had been handed in to the regulator over the past four years, 42 showed the developments would cause no fluctuation in traffic at all.
The review will see the thresholds for such reports increased substantially, meaning the size of a development that will now need to include an assessment has been reviewed upwards.
Residential developments of less than 75 units, for instance, will no longer require an assessment; this previously stood at 50 units. A warehouse would need such a report if it covers an area of 4,000 square metres, up from the present 1,000 square metres.
The review will also introduce a simplified traffic impact form for smaller developments that would normally be exempt but could have an extraordinary impact on traffic flows due to their location.
Outlets selling pastizzi (cheesecakes) or small apartment blocks in busy areas, for instance, generated more traffic than larger developments, Mr Cassar noted.
The planning watchdog will have discretion to decide when to demand a traffic impact study, which will be considered at the application stage of all developments.
Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon said parts of the old system, based on a UK model , did not tally with the Maltese reality. For instance, the planning authority previously set equal benchmarks for industrial developments and large retail projects. Studies, however, indicated that supermarkets generated far more traffic than factories.
The review will see any proposed development likely to generate more than 100 vehicle movements an hour needing to carry out a full impact assessment.
By way of comparison, ordinary residential developments have a trip rate of between 0.8 and three vehicle movements per hour. Restaurants, on the other hand, generate as much as 25-30 vehicle movements per hour.