Din l-Art Ħelwa backs PN's ODZ proposal
Environment NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa said today that it agrees with the suggestion by the Nationalist Party that proposals for development in areas outside the development zone would require a two-thirds majority approval in Parliament.
"The introduction of the new Policy for Rural Areas in 2014 has done nothing to slow down development in the countryside. Beside the wholly objectionable decision to construct a new educational institute on rural land at Zonqor, which led to the largest ever environmental protest rally held in Malta, both small and large applications for development in ODZ land are constantly streaming in. The countryside is being eaten up by piecemeal and unnecessary development," the NGO said.
It recalled that it had proposed that since all ODZ developments involved a violation or a change of a development boundary, in principle these should be approved by Parliament.
"The PN proposal for a two-thirds majority takes this a step further, and Din l-Art Helwa therefore supports this proposal in principle," the NGO said.