Planning Authority Points To COVID-19 To Justify Weak Response To Green Facade Scheme
Although only 140 households applied for a Planning Authority scheme to incentivise green facades, the PA has argued that the response was “positive” considering the scheme was launched at the peak of Malta’s COVID-19 crisis.
“Kindly note that the Green Your Building Grant scheme was the first of its kind for Malta,” a PA spokesperson told Lovin Malta when asked why it had described the response to the scheme as positive.
“Given the fact that the concept of green infrastructure is new to Malta and the scheme was launched at a time when Covid cases were at an all-time high, one can consider that the response to the scheme was positive.”
“One must also remember that this initiative was limited for private owners who live in residential areas, but excluded all UCAs, scheduled properties and residential priority areas such as villa areas etc.”
Through the scheme, launched last January, the PA committed itself to fully refunding people’s bills up to €10,000 when they introduce green facades and walls to their homes, as well as the green retrofitting of front gardens.
Reimbursement of costs will take place over five years, with 60% on completion of works and the remaining after the first, third and fifth year after completion.
However, several people said that, although they were interested in the scheme as a concept, the red tape and terms and conditions imposed by the PA rendered it unattractive.
Particularly, people questioned why the scheme obliged them to involve a qualified landscape architect or garden designer from the start of the project, and why an architect had to submit the request for funding.
“For me, it was not worth the hassle and fees of going to an architect,” one woman commented, while one man broke down the numbers and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it.
“Out of a €10,000 cost, €1,000 must go to architect and application fees, leaving you with €9,000 which doesn’t cover all the expenses… mine is costed at around €14,000.”
Other people said they would have liked to apply but were barred from the scheme because they live in locations designated as Urban Conservation Areas or villa/bungalow areas.
The PA said it had to be very vigilant with the requirement needed for interested parties to apply, seeing as the funding is associated with living plants.
It added that its experiences with schemes such as Restawra Darek and the Marsamxett Balcony Scheme show that they tend to gain popularity over time.
“In the future, the Authority may consider launching this same scheme and may choose to widen the criteria – for example to include green roofs, façade of businesses etc,” it said.
Cover photos: Planning Authority
How do you think schemes like this could become more successful?
READ NEXT: LIVE BLOG: Good Luck Destiny! 🇲🇹 Dave & Tim's Running Commentary From The Eurovision Semi-Finals
