The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has reduced its development planning fees for new development applications that relate to social, cultural, educational and sports activities.

As a result of the revision, the applicable for planning applications to develop hospitals, residential and educational institutions, museums, places of worship, sport facilities and social clubs, for example, has decreased by 39 per cent.

The authority has also introduced a capping mechanism, which will be of €40,000 for such applications. Through this measure, Mepa and the government will be assisting and encouraging non-profit making organizations, it said.

Following the revision of its fees last July, the authority began to calculate planning development fees on the basis of the size of the proposed project.

This change left an impact on some non-residential applications that are land-intensive such as sports complexes and landscaping works. The authority said it was choosing to re-introduce capping on its fees for these type of applications that are non-residential.

These revisions are getting implemented follow a consultation exercise that the authority carried out with a number of organisations, associations and local councils.

Last July, MEPA had published a legal notice whereby the planning development fees had been raised to reflect the costs the authority was incurring in providing a wide-range of services to its customers.

So as not to discourage the practice of rehabilitating disused quarries for waste disposal, land reclamation for agriculture purposes or impose further costs on the quarry industry which would ultimately translate into an indirect cost on all built development, the authority also set a capping on these type of development applications.

It set a capping of €55,000 on Environment and Development Briefs.

The authority adjusted the flat rate fee it had introduced last July on demolition works. The revised fees will now be based on the demolished area.

The new revisions can be viewed on the authority’s website.

www.mepa.org.mt

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