Amendments to the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) were this evening approved by the Parliamentary Committee for Planning and the Environment with Government members voting in favour and Opposition members abstaining.
The approval followed lengthy and detailed discussions on various clauses in the SPED and will now be placed on agenda for discussion in the House, where further changes may be affected.
SPED is set to replace the current Structure Plan, which was designed in the early 1990’s.
The document forsees, among other things, the building of a cruise liner terminal and an airstrip in Gozo.
Environment shadow minister Marthese Portelli said that the Opposition was abstaining as there were still reservations on the entire document.
She said that the Opposition did not agree with the approval of SPED in its entirety and maintained that the document was not strong enough on conservation and was vague on feasible development.
The Opposition, she said, felt that the general presumption against development in protected areas should be more entrenched.
The main criticism levelled at the document by main environmental organisations, such as Din L-Art Helwa and Friends of the Earth, was that the result of public consultation was not reflected in the document submitted to the committee.
Chairman Marlene Farrugia had assured the NGOs that their proposals would be discussed. During the sitting, she insisted that while some elements in the suggestions put forward by Din L-Art Helwa, other organisations and the Opposition, were repetitions to what was already in the SPED, there was no harm in including them since they would serve to strengthen the conservation principles.
The amendments which were strengthened included the safeguarding of rubble walls, conservation areas and the historic skyline.
Moreover, areas of ecological and landscape value were also being protected for their scenic beauty.
Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon said that while there was no objection to the safeguards, other legal documents existed which also safeguarded culturally and ecologically sensitive areas.
Planning authority officials pointed out that no specific clause should be tied to public consultation since this in itself might imply exclusion.
They said that the principle of public consultation was enshrined in the law and was universally applicable.