The Malta Environment and Planning Authority's Planning Directorate is recommending a refusal of the proposed golf course at Verdala, limits of Rabat.

The much-awaited report by the directorate, days before the Mepa board decides on the case, argues that the proposed golf course is located within an area of agricultural value and that the re-modification of the site would affect the water supplies, the soil profile and the landscape within the site.

The Planning Directorate is the body that provides expert recommendations to the Mepa board, which will decide on the case on Thursday.

Mepa public relations officer Silvana Debono said the board would give the directorate's report its due consideration, though it was not bound by it.

Should the board overturn the recommendation given by the directorate then it would have to state in writing why it has done so, Ms Debono explained.

The directorate's report is highly critical of the development proposed by AX Holdings in certain fields.

On balance, it states, the proposed development is not considered to uphold the principles of sustainable development enunciated in the Development Planning Act, since the negative impacts including the displacement of current farming activities, the high demand for water resources, the significant disturbance to ecological habitats and archaeological remains do not balance the economic benefits of the proposal.

The directorate said that the proposed development of the hotel site as a whole, in terms of the scale and nature of the facilities offered, was of an "excessive scale" and would lead to over-development of the site.

This would not be in the interests of the amenity of the immediate and surrounding area. The proposed replacement apartment building and proposed business centre did not relate in scale with its surroundings and would adversely affect the long distance views of the area.

The site of the proposed business centre and extension to apartment block lies outside the limits for development defined in the temporary provisions scheme for Rabat and so it is located in an area which is proposed to remain undeveloped and open.

The report says that the proposal as a whole would generate a considerable volume of vehicular movements, which would have a significant and unacceptable impact on the road network in the immediate area, as well as the arterial road.

"It will give rise to unacceptable additional on-street car parking, which would not be in the interests of the amenity of the area."

The proposed development of a golf course conflicts with Structure Plan Policy TOU 12, which identifies potentially suitable locations for golf courses as derelict land or other land requiring major environmental improvements and which stipulates that such developments be located where they can be accommodated without adverse environmental impact or loss of good quality agricultural land.

"The site of the proposed golf course is located within an area of agricultural value, as well as an area of high landscape value," the report notes.

The proposed golf course does not fall within one of the categories of development, namely structures or facilities essential to agricultural, ecological or scenic interests, which may be permitted in Rural Conservation Areas where they meet the principles and criteria set.

The land in question is fertile, naturally irrigated and still under cultivation.

The proposed development of a golf course conflicts with the emerging Draft North West Local Plan, which prohibits the development of any building or other activity within areas of agricultural value.

Furthermore, the report notes that the re-modification of the terrain, the clearing, relocation and new planting of vegetation, and the infrastructural arrangements necessary to operate the golf course will affect the water supplies, the soil profile and the landscape within the site, as well as a considerable area of land outside the site boundary.

The site of the proposed golf course overlies the upper-perched aquifer of central Malta. The development of this site as a golf course may lead to the contamination of the aquifer and so the proposal does not comply with Structure Plan policy RCO 28, which provides for the protection of important water catchment areas.

The report also makes reference to the Department of Agriculture which pointed out that the trampling by golfers would lead to soil compaction - another impact that would be very difficult to reverse.

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