Design
funding development planning
We all would love to see more public gardens, refurbished and modernised playing
fields, restored public buildings and monuments, better paved alleys in our respective
towns and villages. With the introduction of the new Development Planning Fund, this
has now grown increasingly more possible.
T
his new fund will see its
financing coming from
the amalgamation of
the successful Urban
Improvement Fund (UIF) with that
of the dormant Commuted Parking
Payment Scheme. In addition, 20%
of the revenue generated through
applications for the regularisation
of development is also being direct-
ed to the fund. This combination
is bringing and making millions
DESIGN&BUILD
more available in funding for Lo-
cal Councils to carry out projects
which will better the lives of their
residents.
The concept of creating a fund to
finance projects that can leave a
significant and positive difference
within a locality can trace its roots
with the inception of the Planning
Authority and the introduction of
the 1992 Structure Plan.
“The idea was that if you had a de-
velopment, then you should provide
parking on site. Clearly, this was
not always possible, so the idea was
that the community would be com-
pensated for the shortfall of the car
parking spaces that the project would
require,” the fund’s Chairperson
Perit Vincent Cassar explains.
These funds were injected back into
the community as the Authority gave
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