A bill currently being debated in the Riigikogu would make construction in densely populated areas easier. For example, local governments would be able to reduce shoreline and waterfront building exclusion zones in cities, towns and small boroughs without the approval of the Environmental Board, provided the land is not protected.

According to opposition Social Democrat Tiit Maran, the change is a logical one.

"Generally speaking, densely populated areas contain relatively few natural values and there is no particular need for such restrictions in those areas," he said.

Andres Metsoja of Isamaa has been critical of the bill, citing unequal treatment between urban settlements and rural areas. He pointed out that while cities, towns and small boroughs are subject to a national policy of increasing population density, villages would be governed by a different legal framework. In his view, planning new residential areas in rural regions would in future require specific approval from the Environmental Board.

"A conflict could automatically arise where a local government says, for example, that it needs residential land in order to promote housing development and attract taxpayers to the municipality. The Environmental Board, however, may see the same area as an environmental buffer zone. In practice, that means the veto power — or planning authority — ends up in the hands of the Environmental Board and it is no longer a matter of local government autonomy," he said.

Metsoja fears that once the bill is passed, building near bodies of water outside urban settlements will become even more difficult.

"Practice has already shown that obtaining building rights near a body of water in rural areas is extremely difficult and I believe this regulation will make it even harder," Metsoja said.

However, Taimo Aasma of the Ministry of Climate's biodiversity department disagreed with the claim that construction near bodies of water outside cities, towns and small boroughs would become more difficult than it is today.

"I would not agree with that, considering the exemptions we have proposed in the draft legislation. We have added a range of special cases where the building exclusion zone does not apply at all. Certain structures can be built without regard to it, such as utility networks serving an existing residence," he said.

Aasma said the bill's primary aim is to reduce bureaucracy.

"The Environmental Board's approval was also required previously, but it was a separate procedure. Once a plan had gone through the planning process, it could only take effect with the board's approval. That approval was granted separately and only after the planning process had been completed, which often created situations where a plan had already been processed but the Environmental Board issued its final approval only afterward," he said.

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