A development brief for the area which currently houses the fuel depot in Birzebbuga was launched yesterday by the chairman of the Cabinet committee on national projects, Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt, and committee member George Pullicino, the Environment Minister.
The brief was drawn up by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority after Enemalta promised last July it would be closing its 38,320m2 of storage plant in Birzebbuga.
The plant is in the middle of a residential zone and next to the sea. It has been there since 1912, well before residences were developed but because of bad planning it was eventually surrounded by residential buildings and the site was not in conformity with EU standards.
The plant, Mr Pullicino said, would be substituted with comprehensive development and it was important that there would be a housing mix. Twenty-five per cent of the area also had to be landscaped.
There had to be a construction management plan to show how the impact on the surrounding residences during development could be reduced.
The brief is open for public consultation for a six-week period. A public meeting with residents will also be held. Once this period is over a final brief would be prepared and the site would be open for offers by the private sector. Mr Pullicino hoped the public discussion will be rational and well thought-out.
Dr Gatt said that to move out of Birzebbuga, Enemalta will have to start storing fuel elsewhere and it had submitted an application to Mepa to move its operation to Has Saptan where the corporation already had storage tanks which will reduce the required expense substantially.
The minister said the proposal was criticised by the Gudja and Ghaxaq mayors who were saying that to develop the day tanks above the existing storage tanks would entail the removal of a grove of olive trees.
Dr Gatt said that not to develop the day tanks at Has Saptan, which was the cheaper option and which will still cost Lm5 million, would mean that an area as large as the current Birzebbuga site would have to be developed because it would be too expensive and unfeasible to have the storage tanks underground as was the case in Has Saptan. A storage area was required unless the country decided it would stop using cars or anything which made use of petrol and diesel.
The Has Saptan plant had been built by Nato to supply the US sixth fleet.
Mr Pullicino pointed out that one had to keep in mind that this was a small country and wherever there was activity there would be an impact. These facilities were required and everything had to be taken into consideration.
Dr Gatt said Enemalta was looking at other alternatives but these were also more costly.
These alternatives included installing a storage plant at Grand Harbour or renting the storage facilities from third parties. Financial and environmental considerations had to be kept in mind and costlier alternatives could necessitate increases in the cost of diesel, for example.
However, the corporation was committed to have moved out of Birzebbuga by 2007. To do this, it needed to have other storage facilities.
The corporation had also taken it upon itself to decontaminate the land after moving out of the area.
Mepa planning director Joe Gauci said the move will permit the rehabilitation of the site into a comprehensive development with a high quality urban standard design incorporating a recreational zone and using the land in a compatible way with the surrounding area.