Wied Garnaw decision deferred

Mepa's Planning Appeals Board yesterday deferred its decision on the appeal relating to the construction of a private waste sorting plant in Wied Garnaw, in the outskirts of Sta Lucija.

In yesterday's hearing the applicant argued that he should be permitted to build a plant on the site since there are various developments in its vicinity.

The board deferred the hearing by several weeks to give the applicant time to submit a site plan showing the cited nearby developments, the Save Wied Garnaw Action Group said yesterday.

The NGO said that if this argument is accepted it would spell the end of virtually all green areas since some form of development, legal or otherwise, can be found in or near to them.

The group said it was disturbed by the Planning Appeals Board's apparent willingness to entertain this argument, particularly after the controversial recent extension of development boundaries. The Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment had justified this extension on the grounds that areas outside the development zone would enjoy better protection as a result, the group recalled.

It also pointed out that according to Policy SET 12 of the Structure Plan, for a development application to even be considered by Mepa, "the onus will be on applicant to present evidence as to why...such proposed use cannot be located in areas designated for development." No such evidence or reasons have ever been submitted by the applicant, it said.

It emphasised that according to the Structure Plan this application should have never been considered, let alone reconsidered and heard at appeal level as well.

"Given these circumstances the Action Group considers this deferment to be grossly unwarranted. Moreover, such repeated deferments delay - and deny - justice to all law-abiding Maltese people," it said.