A legal notice just issued by the government will enable works to be carried out on hospital sites without need for Planning Authority permits and Environment Impact Assessments.

The legal notice issued by the Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development and the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning after consultation with Mepa, provides that development is permitted  without the need of any notification within the perimeter of  declared hospital sites “where such development consists of the erection or alteration or extension of any building within the perimeter of the hospital, which may be required solely for purposes related directly to any healthcare service provided by the hospital, which development is carried out by an operator of the hospital or its agent.”

The notice also gives the green light for the change to the use of buildings within the perimeter of the hospital, for purposes related to any healthcare service or ancillary service provided by the hospital, which development is carried out by an operator of the hospital or its agent.

When the development is located within scheduled property, it shall be subject to prior clearance by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage.

The areas designated as hospitals are the sites of Gozo General Hospital, St Luke’s Mater Dei, Mt Carmel and St Vincent de Paul.

The government is currently engaged in talks with foreign investors on the development of the sites of Gozo General Hospital and St Luke’s to provide new medical facilities for the Maltese and for medical tourism.