Din l-Art Helwa yesterday told a parliamentary committee that the proposed Strategic Plan for the Environment and Planning ran the serious risk of becoming irrelevant given the government’s direction on the proposed university at Żonqor, which went directly against the plan.
The document highlighted the area as one of ecological importance which should be protected, the House Development and Planning Committee was told.
“I seriously doubt the usefulness of this document and the possibility of its implementation given that aspects of it are already being compromised,” said Petra Caruana Dingli, former president and now consultant to the heritage organisation.
The recently approved policy for tall buildings also went against the policies in the proposed strategic plan (SPED), she said, adding that the document needed an implementation plan to be credible.
The Water Protection Lobby said the document was not a government document but a national document needing a wide national consensus to be valid.
Committee chair Marlene Farrugia said this document was of great importance since it would affect the environment for generations to come.
Environment Minister Leo Brincat and Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon said they had been following the developments in the compilation of this document since its inception during the previous administration.
SPED was not an environmental plan but a planning tool for spatial development, Mr Brincat said. Its implementation, however, need-ed to be regulated through an environmental policy framework.
The crux of the matter was the implementation and the definition of what was the public good. Mepa CEO Johan Buttigieg said SPED had passed through an extensive period of consultation. The replacement of the Structure Plan was a legal requirement and the SPED was taking its place. The aim was to have a planning vision for the next five years and Mepa sought to maximise the use of available land.
Dr Caruana Dingli said none of the suggestions from Din l-Art Ħelwa were reflected in the document. The document had been terribly weakened from its original state and there seemed to be no strategic direction. What had been circulated as a document outlining objectives was now being proposed as a vision document.
She moved that the organisation’s proposals be passed on to the committee with a view to amending the SPED document.
Marthese Portelli (PN) said the document replicated the Objectives Document which had been formulated by the previous administration. The visionary aspect was so pithy as to be negligible and was too short-spanning to be worth the trouble.
Referring to the proposed university at Żonqor, Dr Portelli questioned the role of Mepa and the apparent conflict between this decision and the document under discussion.
Mr Buttigieg said that, in the issue of the proposed university, Mepa had asked the government property division to see which suitably large tracts of land could be used for this development.
Dr Farrugia asked if the Property Division had been directed by Mepa not to look in the ODZ and asked how the interests of future generations could be safeguarded.
Mr Buttigieg said the work carried out so far was at preliminary level and a full-blown site selection exercise would eventually need to be carried out. The document proposed that, if land in the ODZ was to be used, another site would be removed out of a zone designated for development.
He confirmed two statements: two million square metres of OZD land had been included in the development zone in the Rationalisation Exercise of 2006 and a religious entity had an application for a school in an ODZ.
Dr Farrugia said this document needed to give a firm direction and asked how Mepa could agree to the proposal at Żonqor.
Mr Buttigieg replied that Mepa had been requested by the government to propose a site and had done its duty.
Ryan Callus (PN) said this comment by the CEO of an independent authority was very worrying since Mepa was seemingly running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.
Mr Buttigieg said Mepa had made its recommendations to the government as requested.
In reply to Dr Portelli’s comments, Mr Buttigieg said Mepa had based its recommendations on the current Structure Plan and not on the SPED which was still awaiting approval. Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon objected to the discussion since, he said, the discussion was on SPED not the proposed university.
Dr Farrugia said that this discussion was being permitted given that it strengthened credibility of the SPED document.
Godrey Farrugia (PL) said Malta was reaching saturation point in development and the rural areas needed to be preserved.
Otherwise, the economic viability of Malta will be hit. The natural heritage was to be protected for the future and not disposed of in a cavalier fashion.