ADPD-The Green Party dalgħodu qed jingħaqad mal-protesta kontra l-proposti imħabbra mill-Gvern għal riforma tal-ippjanar għall-użu tal-art.
Iċ-Chairperson ta’ ADPD-The Green Party Sandra Gauci qalet:”Ir-riforma li ħabbar il-Gvern fil-liġijiet tal-ippjanar tal-użu tal-art jitfa’ lill-pajjiż lura għal Żmien il-Ħaġar. Il-proposti huma parti minn proġett mhux dikjarat ta’ tneħħija ta’ kull regola li tiddefendi il-ġid komuni u l-interess taż-żgħir u tal-komunitajiet tagħna.”
“It-triq li għażel il-Gvern hi waħda ta’ appoġġ kontinwu lill-ispekulaturi biex jiffaċilita li dawn ikunu jistgħu jibqgħu għaddejjin minn fuq kulħadd bla xkiel. Dan hu dak li jagħmlu l-liġijiet proposti: jagħtu d-dritt lill-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar biex meta jidhrilha tinjora r-regoli tagħha stess biex taġevola lil min ikollha quddiema.”
Id-Deputat Chairperson ta’ ADPD-The Green Party, il-Perit Carmel Cacopardo qal li miżuri biex l-Awtorità tkun effiċjenti merħba bihom. “Imma dawn il-mizuri ma jridux ikunu paraventu għal proġett ta’ deregolamentazzjoni (deregulation). L-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar teħtieġ li tkun iktar effiċjenti f’xogħolha biex tħares liż-żgħir u lill-komunitajiet tagħna. Teħtieġ li tkun tarka kontra l-abbuż u mhux issir hi stess għajn tal-abbuż u strument biex tiġġustifika kollox.”
“Sfortunatament l-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar ġiet transformata f’fabbrika tal-permessi tal-iżvilupp. Insiet l-obbligi fundamentali tagħha li tippjana kif tħares il-wirt ta’ missierijietna. Kull biċċa bini jew art illum qed jitkejlu fuq kemm il-sular jifilħu, u dan flok il-valur intrinsiku tagħhom kemm jekk huma parti miż-żoni urbani tagħna kif ukoll jekk raba’ li għandha u tista’ tinħadem.”
“Iż-żewġ abbozzi ta’ liġi dwar l-ippjanar għall-użu tal-art huma pass lura u ser jagħmluha iktar diffiċli biex is-soċjetà ċivili ssegwi u tippreżenta sottomissjonijiet dwar proposti ta’ żvilupp imdaqqsa. Dan ippruvaw jagħmluha bit-tnaqqis taż-żmien li fih ikun possibbli li jkun ippreżentat appell minn deċiżjonijiet tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar. Din il-proposta issa jidher li qed jirtirawha wara ġimgħat sħaħ ta’ battibekki”
“L-abbozz jipproponi li jagħmilha iktar faċli li proposta ta’ żvilupp tkun approvata billi fost oħrajn jipproponi biex materji ambjentali ma jibqgħux jiġu kkunsidrati mill-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar. L-abbozz jintroduċi wkoll iktar flessibilità fl-applikazzjoni ta’ policies tal-ippjanar b’riżultat li, inevitabilment, se jkollna nuqqas ta’ ċertezza dwar x’regoli u policies huma applikabbli.”
Għal ADPD-The Green Party hu ċar daqs il-kristall li l-abbozzi ppreżentati għall-konsiderazzjoni tal-Parlament huma riżultat ta’ pressjoni biex l-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar tkompli tillaxka l-ħidma tagħha, tarmi għal kollox il-funzjoni tagħha ta’ ippjanar u issir dejjem iktar fabbrika tal-permessi tal-iżvilupp. Dan se jwassal biex il-komunitajiet residenzjali tagħna tonqsilhom il-protezzjoni u l-brigata tal-ispekulaturi tkompli tingħata iktar arja mili diġa għandhom. Wara kollox dawn hekk iridu, inqas indħil li jxekkilhom milli jagħmlu li jfettillhom. Il-Prim Ministru issa bl-iswed fuq l-abjad sħab magħhom fi żvilupp selvaġġ. Mhix xi ħaġa ġdida, ilna nafu. Imma issa hemm ukoll il-provi.
Hemm ukoll il-proposta biex jagħtu l-barka lill-bini illegali barra miż-żona tal-iżvilupp. Din il-proposta hi ta’ ħsara kbira. Kieku l-Gvern għandu nitfa rieda tajba kien tal-inqas iġiegħel lil min abbuza jreġġa’ lura l-isfreġju li għamel b’mod partikolari barra miż-żona tal-iżvilupp. Idealment li anke jirrestawraha fejn saret il-ħsara.
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Back to the Stone Age
ADPD-The Green Party is today participating in the environmental protest opposing the government’s planning reform which will result in a free for all.
ADPD-The Green Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci said:”The proposed planning bills announced by the government takes the country back to the Stone Age. These proposals are part of a larger project aimed at removing every single regulation that aims to protect the interest of the public and our communities.
”The path chosen by the government is clearly that allows speculators the freedom to continue with their work, riding roughshod over everybody and everything. This means that the proposed laws give the Planning Authority the right to ignore its own regulations when and how they deem fit.”
ADPD-The Green Party Deputy Chairperson and architect Carmel Cacopardo said:“Any measures designed to make the Planning Authority more efficient are welcome. However, these measures should not lead towards deregulation. The Planning Authority needs to be more efficient in its work so that it protects the interest of the public and our communities. It needs to be a shield against abuse and not become the source of abuse and a tool to justify everything.”
“Unfortunately, the Planning Authority has been transformed into a permit factory. It has forgotten its obligation to protect our heritage. Every single building or parcel of land is evaluated on the basis on how many storeys can be built on it, instead of appreciating its intrinsic value as part of our urban zones or its agricultural value.”
“The two bills on land planning are a step backward and the intention behind them is for civil society to find it more difficult to monitor and present submissions in relation to major developments. This will be possible by reducing the timeframe that would allow appeals to decisions taken by the Planning Authority.”
“In addition to facilitating building permits, the bill will also propose environmental issues to be ignored by the Planning Authority. The bill also introduces more flexibility in the application of planning policies, which will inevitably lead to confusion as to what regulations and policies are actually to be followed.”
ADPD-The Green Party reiterates that it is crystal clear that the bills presented to Parliament are the result of pressure on the Planning Authority to be less rigorous in its work, ignoring for good its function as a planning authority and becoming a permit factory. This will ultimately lead to less protection for our residential communities whilst the speculator brigade is given even more leeway. After all this is their ultimate aim, which is the least possible interference. It is clear that the Prime Minister is working together with these speculators. This has been known for quite some time, but now it is clearly evident that this is the case.
There is also the proposal to legalise any illegally built buildings on ODZ land. This proposal is certainly dangerous. If the government has a shred of decency, it would have demanded that those who abused the system return the area to its original state and ideally also restore it should any damage was sustained.
