Mepa said today that it was surprised that environment NGOs were asking it to postponed the consultation on a revision of local plans when over the past years they had been calling for such a revision.

Reacting to the statement issued by the NGOs yesterday, , Mepa said the process for the revision of all the local plans is a priority which needs to start and cannot get delayed any further.

As opposed to previous public consultation exercises, whereby a six week period was generally set, the process for the revision of the local plans started off with a three month long public participation exercise.

This exercise  is over and above the public consultation process the Authority is required to carry out by law. From experience, the Authority said it could confirm that during the summer, public participation in similar initiatives was far from being poor.

"The Authority believes that prior to it proposing any amendments to the policies or maps of the existing seven local plans, it is healthier and more productive for society, including local councils and the public, to be engaged in the process from the outset."

The Authority said it intends drawing up planning policies that are tailored to achieve a sustainable balance between the wide range of citizens’ aspirations.