Energy-Efficient and Cleansing Measures are urgently needed
With reference to the article, published on the website of The Times of Malta, entitled ‘Groups to challenge ‘sleight of hand’ policy that allows buildings to go higher’, the Malta Developers’ Association would like to state that it is surprised by the move by the environment groups , which comes 7 years after the policy was introduced.
It is pertinent to note that the DC2015 did not introduce additional GFA over what was approved in the DC2000 namely because, prior to the DC 2015, individuals were allowed to live in semi-basements and basements.
Through the introduction of the DC 2015, the Authorities and the Government at the time, made it clear that it would not allow residential development to take place below street level, primarily to improve the quality of life of the residents, but also to avoid any health-related issues which emanate from such. Moreover, the policy had also increased the minimum square metres for dwellings, making Malta the smallest EU Country with the highest mininum standards.
The MDA would like to state that should the Environment Groups decide to challenge the DC 2015 in court, it will also challenge such especially with the removal of the internal development and the 30m limit of development and the removal of height limitations in the UCA. This is so because, all of these measures have negatively affected the members of the Association.
Moving forward, The MDA invites the Environment NGOs to sit down with all stakeholders, to openly and frankly discuss how the Policies can be improved, in everyone’s best interest. This will be a continuation of the holistic discussions which were held under the helm of Former Minister for Planning and the Environment, Hon Aaron Farrugia, whereby the Intelligent Planning Committee chaired by Prof Victor Torpiano, brought together both the NGOs and developers and converged to an agreement on most of the topics.
Today the MDA invites the current administration and government to call in all parties and holistically review the DC 2015 to include more Energy-Efficient Measures related to the construction of buildings and measures to clean up the streetscapes from several accretions that are negatively affecting the visual appearance.