Malta’s proposed planning permit reform is missing a crucial element when it comes to protecting people and buildings from geological risks, according to the Malta Chamber of Geologists.The Chamber has warned that while the proposed reform places significant emphasis on legal procedures, timelines and appeals, it fails to adequately address what lies beneath development sites, and the potential risks this can pose.At the heart of its proposals is a call for preliminary geological investigations to become mandatory before full development permission is granted.Currently, the Chamber said, geological and geotechnical risks can effectively be left until after a full planning permit has already been issued, with assessments taking place during the building execution stage.It argues that this needs to change.Preliminary geological assessments carried out before permit approval could identify issues including rock instability, underground voids and potential ground failure before construction is given the green light.The Chamber is also calling for geological risk maps to become part of Malta’s planning system, covering hazards such as unstable cliffs, rockfall zones, karst formations and clay slopes.It argued that while the proposed reform gives the Planning Board broad discretion to depart from policy on spatial, architectural or contextual grounds, it does not establish similarly specific scientific criteria concerning underground conditions.The organisation also pointed towards recommendations emerging from the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry, including the recommendation that a geologist’s report should be carried out before ground excavation takes place.It wants the Planning Authority and Building and Construction Authority to follow a unified standard under which a geologist’s assessment becomes a core part of planning approval for sites involving major excavation or rock cutting.The Chamber said certified geological reports are already embedded within construction and planning frameworks in other European countries, citing Italy and Greece, and argued that Malta should bring its own regulations closer in line with these standards.It said doing so would help identify subsurface risks before excavation and construction begin rather than attempting to address them further down the line.Finally, the Chamber is calling for professional geologists to be represented on planning and consultative bodies.It noted that bodies including the Building and Construction Consultative Council and Planning Authority review structures currently lack representation from geologists through the Malta Chamber of Geologists.The Chamber maintains that geological risk and site safety should form part of the planning process from the outset rather than being treated as an issue to address only once a development has already received its permit.What do you make of the chambers statement?•