Various administrative structures are empowered by the new Environment and Development Planning Act 2010 to make decisions on development applications depending on the nature of the proposed application. Major applications of national importance or those applications which could have a significant impact on the environment and therefore are subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), such as applications for golf courses, yacht marinas and fish farming, are decided by the MEPA Board rather than the Environment and Planning Commission. The Board will consider the impact of the proposal on the environment and will balance the needs of the applicant against the effect of a development on a national scale. Minor applications, such as the installing of a satellite dish, are decided by the Planning Directorate’s officers and the applications which fall between these two extremes are decided by the Environment and Planning Commission, recently set-up, formerly known as the Development and Control Commission (DCC).
Such decisions made by the Environment and Planning Commission (EPC) or by the MEPA Board are taken in public and therefore those who want to show interest may attend and even, according to procedures, make verbal submissions or written submission to the deciding body. It is up to the Chairperson to decide whether to accept the submission or not. Both the EPC and the MEPA Board are guided through the process by reports, known as Development Permit Application Report (DPAR) prepared by the case officer assigned to the application, which will set out the details of the proposed development found in the application and all the relevant policies and other considerations that are closely linked to the development. The case officer will include a recommendation on the decision at the end of the report.
Certain decisions can be delegated to the planning officers when these applications are straightforward and for which no objections have been filed. The application will nonetheless still be scrutinized and endorsed by the EPC to ensure that the officer with the power of delegation has followed policy and procedure. All decisions need to comply with the policies that apply to such specific application ex. Structure Plan policies, Local Plan policies and other policy and planning guidance, ex. Policy & Design Guidance. The EPC or MEPA Board may accept the case officer’s recommendation, with or without conditions imposed on permission, or they may refuse such recommendation and make a different one. When refusing, the deciding body shall specify in full the reasons why it is refusing such recommendation. Where a final decision is made, the applicant will receive a notice setting out the decision, including any conditions.
When an application is refused or is approved with conditions which one feels that they are unacceptable or unreasonable, one can either request the EPC (or MEPA Board) to reconsider the decision or submit an appeal to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. It is important to note that there are time frames for such requests to be made and if these are not respected, then the request will not be valid. The decisions of the Tribunal shall be final and no appeal shall lie therefrom except on a question of law only. Such appeal shall be filed to the Court of Appeal (Inferior Jurisdiction). The reconsideration shall be made within thirty days from notification of the decision of the Authority or of the EPC, as the case may be, and may not be made concurrently with an appeal. The request for reconsideration shall include a written document containing the reasons for such a request. Appeals to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal must be made within 30 days from the publication of the decision notification on the press. Where a request for a reconsideration of a decision by the Authority has been made within the time limit set above, the 30 day period for making an appeal starts when the Authority's reply on the reconsideration is received.
