Permit for new stone quarry turned down

A request to excavate a new stone quarry in Tax-Xatba L-Ħamra in Mqabba has been refused by the Environment and Planning Tribunal.

There is an adequate supply of stone, gravel and sand for the next 20 years

The developer had filed an appeal after the permit was turned down by the planning commission in 2005.

This was because of “a presumption against granting new hard stone and soft stone quarries at least until the first review of the Mineral Subject Plan”.

The developer argued he did not receive a fair hearing because the planning commission had based its refusal on a document – the Mineral Subject Plan – approved by the planning authority in 2003 but not by the government.

However, the planning authority countered with the argument that the structure plan, an approved document, imposed a set of conditions linked to quarry applications such as location, resources, environmental protection and vibration among other things.

The only new permit issued by the planning authority was for a new soft stone quarry in Siġġiewi, which had been filed in 2000 – before the authority approved the Mineral Subject Plan.

It admitted that the Minerals Subject Plan was not legally binding because it had not been approved by the government but the “directorate refused the application following the presumption against the granting of new quarries”.

The team manager of the authority’s minerals planning unit also informed the tribunal that the structure plan specified that applications for new quarries had to be considered according to rate of production and reserves of stone.

A study of the reserves and production of soft and hard stone, carried out in connection with the Mineral Subject Plan, clearly showed there was an adequate supply of stone, gravel and sand for the next 20 years and that there was no need for new quarries.

There was enough “production” for the construction industry for the next 10 years, the team manager explained.

In its decision, the tribunal noted that the structural policies were clear on dealing with applications for new quarries and refused the appeal.