Moviment Graffitti has submitted its representation in the second phase of the Rural Policy Design Guidance 2020.
Our main concerns with the new proposed policy are the following:
- The term “national interest” used in some clauses in the policy is too broad and allows both public as well as private projects to disregard the provisions of the policy on the pretext of “national interest”.
- Swimming pools should not be allowed in rural areas and it should be specifically mentioned that they are prohibited by this policy.
- Tourism accommodation in rural areas should be prohibited. Guesthouses and hotels in rural areas, even if related to agrotourism, do not make any sense in the Maltese context. Our rural land is precious and anyone who would like to enjoy it can sleep overnight in the urban area and then take day trips, since the distances are very short. If we allow the proliferation of tourist accommodations on our scarce and precious rural land, both tourists as well as residents will have nothing left to enjoy.
- Some loopholes that have allowed the building of residential, non-agricultural, structures on ODZ have been removed in the draft revised policy. However, others remain.
The rural area should be an escape from urban life with less buildings and dereliction. Also, the importance of food security and landscape mitigation should not be overlooked.
Read the full representation here.
