Malta has entered a new legislature. The government has committed to a strong environmental focus. This pledge will ensure that the Labour Party is not left behind.
For many years, Malta has placed priority on building, with the environment in which we live being a mere afterthought.
Lack of green areas, lack of aesthetically pleasing building designs, the hotchpotch construction regime… all leading to the uglification of our island nation.
The government has promised to create many urban green areas. If done right, it will increase the quality life for many residents of those areas as well as serve as tourist attractions. People need spaces near their homes that allow them to spend quality time with their family or to simply take a walk among the trees and greenery to relax.
It is unacceptable that you have to travel by vehicle to reach these areas.
These urban green areas must be created in conjunction with changes in building policy. We need a serious Planning Authority. Not one that caters to developers and only looks at one development without taking into consideration the entire area. If a building is not pleasing to the eye, it should be rejected. We need a serious aesthetics policy and a skyline policy. Developers who file multiple applications for the same development, pretending they are different, must be dealt with. Such actions must be punished.
Applications should be made with more power to the Environment and Resources Authority and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
During the election campaign, the government tried to portray itself as eco-friendly and conscious. It is now time for the government to make its money where it is needed.
If we continue building as we have done over the past few decades, Malta we know will disappear. Look at Xlendi to see how the ugliification of Gozo is already underway.
The PA must also swiftly take action against those who break the law.
Last week, the Planning Authority refused to approve a permit for an illegal gate that was blocking access from Bahrija’s Blata tal Melh coastline. The case officer had recommended that the application for the gate – which was put up without any permits – be refused as it is in breach of the country’s rural policy, which bans gates blocking pre-1967 footpaths and because it was in breach of SPED policies which regulate public access to the coastline. This was a positive decision by the PA. It is now hoped that it will be removed completely.
It is not easy to make the environment your main priority. It is not enough to plant a few trees along the roads. We need to address the urban environment and the design in our built up areas. We need to preserve the open space that we have left. This will not be an easy task for the government, but we hope they will put more effort into the environment.
