ODZ planning application boom since 2012; amount per year doubles over five-year period

The number of planning applications in respect of ODZ land has doubled since 2012, according to statistics seen by this newsroom, with a total of 2,700 applications being filed during this period.

This figure represents applications filed, not those approved or rejected, and also includes any form of application in respect of ODZ land, including storage sheds, pools, houses, etc.

Back in the first six months of 2012, a total of 196 applications were filed, rising to 253 in the first six months of 2013.

In the first six months of this year, 412 applications were filed, over double the number seen during the same period in 2012, thus showing the boom in ODZ applications. The constant rise shows a worrying trend, in that if proportionality applies – given that certain applications in respect of ODZ land are quite shocking while others are relatively minor – then applications

for these more disturbing forms of development in the countryside will also have doubled.

Public awareness of ODZ land development has been rising, with some announcements such as that regarding the American University of Malta, provoking national outrage. That particular development also led to the creation of a new environment pressure group called Front Harsien ODZ. Environment NGOs have grown in strength and public support, and media coverage of questionable developments has increased.

Lately, however, the focus has moved away from the countryside to the construction of tower blocks based in Sliema and Mrieħel.

Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Deborah Schembri has previously said: “With land being so precious, instead of taking up more ODZ land you should build in certain specific areas upwards.”

However, those wanting to build in the countryside are, generally speaking, not those who want to build or purchase an apartment or high-rise property. Taking the American University as an example, it is not being built in a high-rise tower within the development zone. Nor are those applying for shelters, pools, or fuel stations on ODZ land intending to put them in a high-rise apartment block.

The government and the Planning Authority had also introduced a relocation policy for service stations, attempting to encourage them to move onto ODZ land or disused quarries. While such an idea would help with regard to safety in urban areas, the offer would, in many cases, permit the construction of larger stations than were already in existence in the urban area.

Better up than out?

Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar maintains that for many years Malta’s politicians have repeated the simplistic mantra “better up than out (into the countryside)”.

“The Maltese public believed this, thinking that tall buildings could be justified on the grounds that they would reduce the demand for permits on ODZ land. This is flawed reasoning, as the two genres are not interchangeable: a person wishing to build an agricultural store, stables, country villa or bungalow in the countryside would not be likely to invest instead in an extremely expensive, high-rise apartment.”

FAA coordinator Astrid Vella emphasises: “The proof of this lies in the fact that the demand for ODZ permits has doubled during the very time when high-rise permits are being issued, therefore these towers are having no effect on reducing the outward sprawl and in sparing the countryside from further development.” Architect Tara Cassar, the FAA’s Environment Officer, adds: “Furthermore, towers will not reduce the pressure to build horizontally in the development zone, as the average Maltese family cannot afford expensive high-rise apartments, therefore more traditional housing will continue to add to our urban congestion.”

The FAA concludes that, moreover, the substantial increase in the number of applications from 196 in the first half of 2012 to 412 in the first half of 2016 cannot all be attributed to applications for agricultural structures. This increase reflects this government’s failure to uphold its electoral pledge to put a stop to development in ODZ areas.