Environment groups are going to court to contest a Planning Authority policy that allows buildings in Malta's towns and villages to go higher than permitted in local plans. "The relevant policy which allows for more floors than permitted in the local plans is illegal and should be struck down. Much damage has already been done to most village cores. But hopefully we are still in time to save what remains before our villages turn into sprawling clusters of faceless apartment blocks," Din l-Art Ħelwa and the Coalition for Gozo (Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex, Għawdix and Wirt Għawdex) said in a joint statement. They explained that building development in Malta is governed by a set of planning policies which at the highest level are approved by parliament and at other subsidiary levels are simply subject to ministerial approval. Among the major policies governing development are the local plans which were approved by parliament in 2006. A key feature of the local plans is that they stipulate unequivocally the permitted number of floors allowed in every single street in Malta and Gozo. "It is universally acknowledged that the main blight afflicting our village cores is the five floors...