Mepa approves ODZ petrol station

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday approved the construction of a petrol station outside the development zones in an area described by its own staff as of "high landscape value".

The new pump, located on Buqana Road, which from Chadwick Lakes leads to Rabat, will replace an existing one in Floriana, which the owner will commit himself to decommission.

The relocation, in fact, is in line with the environment/development watchdog's policy to drive pumping stations out of residential areas. Environmentalists present at yesterday's hearing, however, criticised the choice of the new site, insisting it would set a bad precedent.

The main point stressed was that there were already three pumping stations within one kilometre of the site approved yesterday, making the "sacrifice" of such an area hard to understand. All the more so as the site in question lies outside the development zones and in a rural conservation area.

The area was chosen after a site selection process was carried out in which other sites were considered.

A lawyer present at the meeting said his client was refused permission for a similar relocation of a fuel station in Mosta on a site down the road from the one approved yesterday.

While the case officer had presented a case for the petrol station this time round, the lawyer continued, Mepa was not willing to make any compromise on the fact that the area was outside the development zones, particularly given the scenic value of the area, when his client's application was being processed.

Similarly, he insisted, while the fact that there is a lot of traffic on the road in question was presented by the case officer as a bonus this time round, in his client's case it was considered to be a worrying factor.

The case officer argued that the example mentioned by the lawyer was different and could not be compared to the project under review.

Yet, according to Mepa's own case officer's report, in the same spot now designated for the pumping station, Mepa had in 1997 and 2005 rejected requests for the development of a centre for viticulture and a complex for an experimental vineyard.

Astrid Vella, from Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, emphasised the fact that the station actually sits on mean sea level aquifer, raising risks of contamination should there be any major spill.

The case officer report recognises this and provides for mitigating measures, such as using impermeable materials to construct the base of the station. However, Louis Cassar, a board member who voted against the project, along with Labour's representative, MP Joe Brincat, said he was not convinced fuel would not run off down the road to Chadwick Lakes in the event of a major fuel leak.