ODZ sprawl will continue unless laws are changed, says Environment Commissioner

Building on ODZ land will continue unabated as long as the Environment and Resources Authority is denied a veto in controversial development applications, the Environmental Commissioner has warned. In a statement calling for laws to be updated to give the ERA a greater say in planning decisions, Commissioner for Environment and Planning David Pace slammed developers for filing misleading applications under false pretences and said that the onus was on the Planning Authority's boards and commissions to "go beyond the 'checklist' approach." The PA has been in the limelight over the past couple of weeks following controversial decisions to approve projects for a nursing home in Naxxar and a service station in Burmarrad, both to be built outside development zones. Mr Pace said PA board and commission members had the discretion to reject projects which ticked all the right boxes, just as they had the discretion to approve "what is a justifiable case even if it does not tick the right boxes." BLOG: Petrol stations ad infinitum  The Commissioner was moved to issue a statement after NGO Nature Trust called for him to step in and condemn what it called the "gangrenous invasion of...