Less than half the land allocated for development in Gozo has been utilised, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Environment George Pullicino said during a consultation meeting with Gozitan local councillors at L-Imgarr Hotel on Tuesday.
During the meeting the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) issued the local plan for Gozo and Comino for public consultation. All interested parties have until September 13 to submit their reactions, comments and suggestions.
Architect Frans Mallia and planning officer Chris Attard, who attended the meeting, told The Sunday Times that meetings have already started with local councils to discuss the plan, answer queries and obtain feedback.
Meetings with the public will be held at the Ninu Cremona Complex, Victoria, on July 22 and 25 at 6 p.m. Another meeting for government departments and organisations will be held at L-Imgarr Hotel on July 30. All households in Gozo will receive mailshots with information on the local plan.
Mr Pullicino urged the public to participate in the consultation process "to ensure that the plan is not a plan of the government or the MEPA but of everyone."
The Gozo and Comino Local Plan aims to ensure that sufficient land is available for the spatial development requirements until 2012 and beyond. It also intends to safeguard and enhance Gozo and Comino's unique cultural and natural characteristics that make them desirable to inhabit and visit.
The plan is intended to encourage development which creates wealth and opportunities, improves the quality of life and the environment, is compatible with planning policy and surrounding activities, is efficient on land-use, does not constitute over-development, does not overload the highway network and parking capacities, does not detract or endanger cultural or natural heritage and does not release contaminants into the surroundings.
The plan points out that around 12 per cent of the island is allocated for development which is predominantly residential. Agriculture is the main land user, consisting of about 60 per cent of the total area of Gozo.
The plan states that a water meterage study has revealed that there are almost 18,000 dwellings in Gozo of which about 11 per cent are vacant. It also indicates that an additional 35 per cent are only utilised part of the year and only slightly more than half the total residences in Gozo (53.8 per cent) have full occupancy all year round. There were more than 9,100 households in 1995 and these are envisaged to increase to over 10,600 by 2010.
Land availability studies indicated that around 90 hectares of land were still undeveloped in 2000. This implies that a further 5,500 plots are available within the Development Zone. This is more than three times what is required. The figure does not take into account around 2,000 vacant dwellings or the 6,000 dwellings which are only partly utilised.
The Gozo and Comino local planning team has received 987 applications for consideration by the Gozo Comino Local Plan. The total requested area is around 4.3 km squared.
An average of 1,100 applications related to Gozo are decided each year. Of these, more than three quarters are approved. "Therefore the impression that MEPA refuses the majority of development planning applications is quite unfounded," the plan states.
Around 400 enforcement notices, mainly in Gozo, are also issued each year.
Since there is only one vehicular link between the harbour and the rest of Gozo, the plan proposes to address future expansion of vehicular links. Traffic calming and environmental improvements are being proposed for settlements. Improvements indicated for Mgarr Harbour are aimed to address increasing demand and to rationalise space in this area.
The plan points out that in the absence of detailed justification and due to environmental implications, the airstrip option is being kept open.
According to the local plan, there are about 24,000 registered vehicles in Gozo, increasing by around 1,000 every year. "Alternative means of transport are encouraged due to pleasant weather, congestion problems and land-use implications. Cycle way routes are being proposed to encourage this form of alternative transport and parking facilities for motorcycles are to be provided with major projects to encourage this preferential mode of travel."
Referring to social and community facilities in Gozo, the plan states that primary schools are generally under populated and this provides an opportunity for extracurricular activities.
A section on utilities, services and security infrastructure, maintains that in addition to the upgrading of a supply network, an electricity distribution centre is required at Xewkija. The need for a water polishing plant has been identified. This will be located within existing Water Services Corporation facilities at Ta' Cenc.
A site has also been identified for a sewage treatment plant. Solid waste is currently being dumped at Xaghra and this is causing ample concerns to the nearby settlements including Marsalforn. A waste transfer station is also proposed to process solid waste which is subsequently transferred to Malta.
"A policy is also included to address development permission requests for fuel storage facilities and policies have been introduced to remove the adverse influence of telecommunications facilities. A site for the Armed Forces of Malta is designated at Nadur."
Another section on commerce and industry explains that the concept of town centres was introduced to streamline commercial development. Victoria is classified as a primary town centre and Nadur, Xaghra and Ghajnsielem are classified as tertiary town centres. Small-scale offices are mainly to be set up in residential areas while larger offices are in large part to be accommodated in the Gozo Communal Centre Project.
Due to the discordant state of existing mass tourism areas, general and phased upgrading are indicated, the potential of circular walkways recognised and two main linear country parkways are identified.
Apart from urban design considerations, the potential of public urban open spaces as foci for recreation are endorsed.
The plan stressed the need to safeguard areas of agricultural value which have been identified.
Greenhouses and farm buildings will be set up at designated sites. The conversion of existing farm-buildings for non-farm related activities is not permissible. The conditions of the development of new agricultural stores are also being introduced.
The plan encourages the rehabilitation of rubble walls and proposes a height limit for rubble walls in areas adjacent to country roads to allow long distance country views. The reversion of abandoned agricultural land to traditional cultivation is also encouraged.
A section on urban conservation points out that a policy to classify Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs) into a hierarchy of three categories is being introduced to allow more flexibility and encourage better utilisation of existing built fabric within UCAs. UCA quality areas are introduced to balance streetscapes in terms of architectural quality.
A policy has been introduced to encourage the rehabilitation of stone balconies since they have a special character which deserves to be appreciated and safeguarded.
The plan includes policies for the protection of archaeological heritage and integrated management is proposed to protect precious archaeological heritage.
A study assessing the Maltese landscape is currently being carried out by the MEPA and preliminary results indicate that overall Gozo has a better landscape quality than Malta. Areas of High Landscape Value (AHLVs) have been designated to be protected by specific policies.
The plan asserts that garigue also deserves protection and policies have been introduced to safeguard it. The local plan promotes the rehabilitation of damaged landscapes, degraded habitats have been identified and policies for afforestation are proposed on identified stretches of abandoned agricultural land and degraded habitats.
The plan gives importance to access to the coast and points out that minor islands around Gozo and Comino need special protection due to their scenic and scientific importance. Special protection is being accorded to Comino as an area where close contact with nature can be achieved.
The concept of 'dark sky heritage' is being introduced in the plan. In these designated areas, light pollution, mainly from street lighting and other bright sources of nocturnal illumination, are actively discouraged. Apart from benefits resulting in lesser wastage of electricity the idea is to allow greater enjoyment of the night skies and to cause less disturbance to species sensitive to light pollution.