Maltese planning legislation : a balancing act?

Abstract

One can say that there are three actors or interests involved in the planning process. It is my intention to discuss the correlation between these interests. The tensions apparent between private land interests (mostly made up of landowners requesting development permission), the public interest (as represented by the government of the day) and the public itself, whether Maltese planning legislation adequately reconciles their position is the subject of this dissertation. The importance given to ideologies supporting each of the above mentioned interests and whether there is a trend for any of them to dominate the planning Process will also be discussed. Foreign planning legislation, jurisprudence and practice will be examined in order to see how Maltese legislation can be improved, if such improvements are called for. The introductory chapter will attempt to identify the main interest groups or blocs involved in the planning process and decisions. The historical and legislative backdrop to the Development Planning Act, 1992, will also be outlined. Chapter 2 revolves round the structure and function of the Planning Authority. The thorny questions of its autonomy and whether the Authority is accountable to any other body, will also be examined. The question of whether there are adequate opportunities for public participation in the formulation of development plans is addressed in Chapter 3. The publicity regime obtaining under the Development Planning Act, 1992 is dealt with in Chapter 4. Theremedies available to persons who are aggrieved by decisions of the Planning Authority form the topic ofdiscussion of Chapter 5. The sorry state of the current enforcement mechanism and ways in which it can be improved are considered in Chapter 6. Finally, a brief resume of suggestions for improvement is to be found in Chapter 7.