Santa Marija Estate residents were “pleasantly surprised” with the planning authority’s decision to turn down a proposed massive development in Għajn Żejtuna Valley, Mellieħa.
Contacted yesterday, a day after the Malta Environment and Planning Authority rejected the proposed development, residents’ association chairman Sammy Vella said he could not yet believe Mepa did not rubberstamp the proposal.
“We were taken by surprise because we never actually believed Mepa would vote against it. The new Mepa board has people who are conscious about the environment and the effect such developments have on the environment. We are pleased because we cannot possibly lose anymore of the precious green spaces we have left,” he said.
On Thursday, the Mepa board turned down an application for the building of 13 residential units on seven plots in the heart of Wied Għajn Żejtuna, a lush valley that still features a natural spring.
The board, through its decision, overturned a recommendation for approval made by the Planning Directorate mainly because the proposed development ran counter to a number of rural conservation policies.
The board deemed the project as being insensitive to the country’s natural heritage and could cause potential damage to the valley, which is an important water catchment area.
Mr Vella said the association had campaigned unstintingly since 2007, when the proposal was first filed, to raise awareness about the vulnerability of the valley. He said Mepa had received at least 90 objections to the proposed development, which residents believed was too dense for a residential area that was always meant to be a garden estate with a substantial amount of natural landscaping.
“The past three years were very tiring as we tried to stop the proposed unsustainable project that would have had irreparable effects on the valley, one of the few the country still has. We even commissioned an ecological survey on the valley and we are now in the process of restoring the valley, cleaning it and planning trees,” he said.