| Dear members and supporters, Your help is needed to protect your environment and quality of life – if we all pitch in, we can protect our countryside and quality of life for ourselves and future generations. Please log onto the Planning Authority hearing tomorrow late morning to have your say re PA 5962/21 to build a 13-storey hotel in a residential area. This application will put a hotel in a residential area which is not allowed, as according to planning policy, the two are incompatible. A hotel will reduce the quality of life for the residents of the area. Even the flexibility policy is being interpreted badly by the Planning Authority case officer as the cumulative effects do not allow for good neighbourliness. Your support is necessary to make it clear to the PA that a hotel is incompatible with the area and that residents have a right to enjoy their homes in peace. You can log on using this link: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/16351292 The session is scheduled for 11.30, but might be delayed. |
| We also ask you to email the Planning Authority on: regularisation.amendments@pa.org.mtto oppose the regularisation of abuse in OZD proposed by L.N. of 2022 DEVELOPMENT PLANNING ACT on the grounds that: |
| 01. Consultation period of 14 days for such an important Legal Notice is not the ‘reasonable timeframe’ stipulated by the Aarhus Convention. 02. Third parties cannot object to any form of sanctioning/regularisation. 03. No limit to amount of ODZ illegal use/development which may be regularised: there may be 1% in Development Zone and 99% in ODZ which may still be regularised. 04. This L.N. encourages/promotes law breaking – construct now, sanction later. 05. L.N. does not safeguard or even mention Natura 2000 Sites, Sites of Scientific Importance, Strategic Open Gap etc. 06. L.N. stands in direct conflict with Point 336 in the Labour Party Election manifesto, which promised tighter controls on ODZ. 07. No mention of how Buffer Zones around encroachments in ODZ are to be treated: establishment of buffer zones must be made legally binding. 08. L.N. does not address government bodies/authorities decisions against commercial/private interests – government bodies take decisions without taking the expertise of NGOs on board. 09. Guidelines for Cultural Landscapes not addressed in L.N.: To protect/safeguard the integrity of an organically evolved (“traditional”) cultural landscape including the details of the impact of the changes/amenities on current fauna and flora. A detailed plan should be provided setting tolerable limits of change, and clear parameters and tolerances of such changes are to be defined. 10. L.N. does not call for photographic surveys of encroachments on ODZ, detailing the impact of such encroachments on landscapes or vistas. These need to be made legally binding, should such regularizations even be considered. 11. Such a sweeping and extensive change to the planning system in ODZ must subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment. 12. L.N. makes not reference to Development Control Design Policy, 2015 P6 Transition Design Solutions – Transition Design Solutions between DZ and ODZ – and how regularizations will ultimately violate this policy in DC15. Furthermore no indication as to how such amendments disregard SPED. 13. L.N. does not establish deadline for submissions of such applications , and therefore the L.N. opens the floodgates to this becoming an ongoing practice. |
| Thank you for your kind cooperation. We remind you that Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is a small voluntary group that punches above its weight in working to protect heritage and quality of life. We need your help to continue our work and ask you to consider becoming a member or donating towards our work at https://faa.org.mt/join/ Many thanks and kind regards, The FAA Committee |