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No One Will Sell Their Land For Cheap So You Can Build A Garden, Malta Developers Association President Says 

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Malta Developers Association President Michael Stivala has warned that “no one” is ready to make personal financial sacrifices for the sake of the environment when trading land.

“When developers buy private land, every seller tells you how many storeys can be built on that space by law,” Stivala said. “No one tells you that they will sell you their land on the cheap in return for you not developing half of it and building a garden instead.”

“These are economic forces and no matter what we say, the economy and urban planning go hand in hand. No one is ready to give up their own land for free and if we think that they will, then discussions will get us nowhere.”

Stivala was speaking during a panel discussion on construction and the environment as part of the President’s State of the Nation annual conference.

He expressed his surprise at the findings of a survey by statistician Vincent Marmara, which found that, given a choice, 56% of people would rather own a garden that costs €25,000 while the remaining 44% would prefer the cash in hand.

“I would have thought that more people would have chosen the garden,” he said. “There’s a lot of talk about the environment but the truth is that the economy is important too.”

“The MDA always seeks a balance in the system between the development and the urban and natural environment and we’re against the development of the natural environment and speculation of ODZ land.”

Stivala argued that imposing a freeze on planning permits will only result in further inflation of the property market and said some developers who have unsold stock would actually be pleased with such restrictions as the value of their property would shoot up.

Instead, he called for a serious discussion on the local plans and other planning policies, warning that it’s “useless” to criticise projects that the Planning Authority approves based on existing policies.

He suggested that policies should incentivise the construction of more high-rise buildings as they can take up less land for the same volume of apartment space.

“The discussion must revolve around how we can create open spaces and at the cost of which other spaces,” he said. “The Floor Area Policy for high-rise buildings is the only policy that creates open spaces at no one’s cost.”

What do you make of Michael Stivala’s comments? 

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Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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