Over 1,500 submissions were received from the public and various organisations as part of the public consultation on the controversial planning reforms announced by the Government.

The Government statement also said that the public consultation came to an end on Sunday, the 7th of September 7, following four weeks of open consultation that reached out to many individuals and sectors of society who made their voices heard on two Bills and two Draft Legal Notices that the Government has submitted for discussion.

“Also in recent weeks, a Cabinet Committee set up to scrutinise and analyse the public consultation process has held a number of direct consultation meetings with environmental groups and other organisations in order to strengthen the drafts submitted to the House of Representatives,” said the Government.

It added that the public consultation submissions will now continue to be scrutinised by the Cabinet Committee which is led by the Head of Secretariat within the Office of the Prime Minister, Colonel Dr Mark Mallia. The committee is composed of Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, Ministers Owen Bonnici, Clint Camilleri, Miriam Dalli and Jonathan Attard, Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana and Cabinet Secretary Ryan Spagnol. The Chief Executive of the Planning Authority Johann Buttigieg is an observer.

Through this reform, the Government said that it “wants to continue to strengthen the rights of citizens, including by changing the appeals process whereby development is suspended until a decision is made at the appeals stage with stipulated time limits. The proposed Bills also address the need for the country to start a new page and for those who were allowed to make mistakes in the past to pay for their actions and give compensation to the country.”

“The Government is committed to carrying out this necessary reform that will bring justice to the sector through holistic changes in favour of discipline, clarity and certainty in the field of planning,” it said.

Following the analysis of the submissions submitted during the public consultation, the discussion is now expected to continue in Parliament.

Photo: DOI/Clifton Fenech

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