A new legal framework proposal has been drawn up to significantly reduce the range and types of development that would be exempt from planning permission.

In a statement this afternoon the authority said the proposed Development Notification Order (DNO), which was being issued for public consultation, was seeking to ‘do away with the practice’ that for certain works the public was not part of the planning process and had no right to appeal.  

"Over the past years, the DNO legal notice has been revised on several occasions with the purpose of increasing the classes and types of works that were considered as permitted development.

"Permitted development meant that certain works could be carried out through a simple notification process or in many cases whereby no notification was required at all.

"While this process may have worked well for the applicant, it left the public and many residents without the right to even know, let alone object or appeal against such development works."

Through the new regulations (Procedure for Applications and their Determination)to come into force in the coming days, the authority would be introducing a new type of planning application which would sit along the full development application and the DNO.

This new application, which would be known as the ‘Summary Procedures’ would incorporate a number of development types which had been removed from the present DNO.

It would ensure that a notice was affixed to a property where the intervention is proposed to be carried out, the public was given 15 days to submit objections and a registered objector had the right to appeal the decision. A  ‘Summary Procedures’ application would be decided within 42 days.

The proposed legal notice was eliminating certain 'permitted' development including water cisterns and reservoirs, the installation of LPG storage tanks, extensions to single-dwelling building, basements, backyard developments and swimming pools.

The Planning Authority said it would continue to receive DNO requests in accordance with the current DNO regulations until the publication of the new notice.

The draft legal notice may be read in the pdf link below.

Submissions may be sent in writing to the authority, e-mail address dno@pa.org.mt. The public consultation closes on May 2.