Residents living in Paola’s main square were suffering from noise pollution from the never-ending stream of Arriva buses pulling up at a bus stop, the local council said in a judicial protest against the operator.

More than 144 buses a day stop next to Hibernians club

Ever since Arriva took over the service in July, more than 144 buses a day stopped at the so-called Paola 1 bus stop, next to Hibernians football club in Antoine De Paule square, the council said.

With some of the buses docking for at least five minutes with their engines running, the noise pollution levels in the area around the bus stop had increased.

Filed also by the Hibernians football club, the judicial protest is against Arriva, Transport Malta and Transport Ministry.The council commissioned a noise report which established that the buses were the culprit.

Residents living close to the bus stop could not fully enjoy their property and their health was being affected, the judicial protest claimed.

The noise of Arriva’s engines and doors opening and closing exceeded guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation.

The bus stop was illegal because there was no planning authority permit which, in turn meant, no traffic impact report had been drawn up.

Its presence also halted plans – for which the council had a planning permit – to transform the square into a pedestrian area.

The council called on the court to declare that the illegal bus stop was the cause of high level noise emissions that exceeded the established limit.

The judicial protest also requested that Arriva remove the bus stop to allow the council to go ahead with its embellishment project, saying it would hold the authorities and Arriva responsible.

Lawyer Luciano Busuttil filed the protest.