Local councils should be put in charge of overseeing the placing of restaurant tables in public spaces and wardens should be used to monitor abusers, a reports by the Ombudsman’s Office suggests.
An inquiry by the Ombudsman’s Commissioner for Environment and Planning, David Pace, found that five entities all had a say in the setting up of dining tables in public spaces, a scenario that was allowing many abusers to get off scot-free.
Mr Pace said the system now in place was “fragmented, unwieldy and incapable of providing an immediate and effective response to complaints”. Therefore, responsibility should be handed over to local councillors.
The Times of Malta has reported that only one restaurant had been caught placing more tables outside than it had been allowed to.
The findings had raised eyebrows, especially among local councillors who said they had been inundated with complaints.
Sliema mayor Anthony Chricop noted he received “continuous” complaints from residents unable to access pavements due to excessive tables.
Pedestrians had also corresponded with Marsascala mayor Mario Calleja after being unable to navigate pushchairs, wheelchairs and other equipment through rows of diners in squares and public spaces.
Mr Pace said he had looked into the matter after receiving a complaint about “widespread abuse” and lack of control in the placing of tables and chairs outdoors.
The report found that obtaining permits required documentation from the Government Property Division, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Transport Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority and the local council. Each entailed paperwork and the payment of fees and administrative charges with applicants often required to revisit individual authorities several times.
Present system is fragmented, unwieldy and incapable of providing an immediate and effective response to complaints
The result? Many were choosing to bypass the system altogether, the investigation found. Mr Pace said this was mostly because enforcement was ineffective.
Penalising abusers is entrusted to the police and the planning authority. While involving the police would entail lengthy court proceedings, the planning authority’s enforcement department had a backlog of hundreds of pending enforcements to deal with first, the report pointed out.
Mr Pace therefore proposed handing over responsibility to local councils through the introduction of a rapid response system with spot checks and on-the-spot fines for restaurateurs who ignored the rules.
The Government Property Division would be expected to clearly mark out the encroachment area allotted to individual restaurants. Once this was done, local councils would be able to use the wardens, already employed to monitor traffic and waste removal, to take action where necessary.
Local councils would even be able to withdraw the licence of repeat offenders and Mr Pace even went into the possibility of setting up a tribunal for appeals. Those who lost their permit to have tables outside would have to apply for a fresh permit if they wanted to have them again.
Local council’s would even be able to renew permits after an original one is issued by the planning authority, levying an administrative charge to cover expenses, the report said.
The Government Property Division did not reply to Mr Pace’s request for feedback and questions sent by this newspaper to the MTA remained unanswered at the time of writing.
In contrast, the Local Councils Association, which consulted with Mr Pace on the issue, on the other hand had a lot to say about the proposal.
Among other things, its president, Marc Sant raised doubts on the councils’ ability to exercise enforcement. He said he did not believe councils had the resources to carry out this task.
This was not the case when it came to renewing licences, a proposal that would see councils rake in a profit, with Dr Sant noting that the councils had the necessary resources to do it, as long as the process was not too bureaucratic.