Contrary to what was claimed by the government, the SPED document approved by Parliament did not conform to the objections made by the environment NGOs, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar said this morning.

It maintained that this replacement of the Structure Plan regulating Malta’s development and environment was too vague and open to interpretation, creating convenient loopholes for abuse.

FAA said that although the Prime Minister accepted the Opposition’s motion that revisions to outside development zones were to be presented to Parliament before coming into force, this was a "hypocritical and hollow" promise as the SPED would allow projects to be constructed on ODZ land if no "feasible" solution could be found.

This, along with the rural policy and Design Guidance 2014 would open the way for more building in ODZ that actual changes to the ODZ borders would not be needed.

The passing of the SPED marked yet another step in the direction of environmental degradation, undermining Malta’s economy, tourism and public health, FAA said.