The year 2015 will certainly not go in the annals as a red-letter year for our environment. Throughout the incumbent year, in fact, the environmental integrity of our islands was further undermined.

Case in point is the Żonqor Point saga, which will constitute the frittering away of 18 hectares (18,000 square metres) of ODZ land, in order to construct a Higher Education Institution (since the University card seems to have shunned, at least for now) which can be easily accommodated in another committed site within the South of the island.

This year also witnessed the further desecration of any remnants of environmental authority in this country, with the three Bills – the Environment Protection Bill, the Development Planning Bill and the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Bill – leading the much-maligned Mepa demerger, making it through Parliament after a series of marathon sittings.

All sorts of bulky refuse is being dumped at a makeshift dump in the lower reaches of Wied Dalam, limits of Birżebbuġa.All sorts of bulky refuse is being dumped at a makeshift dump in the lower reaches of Wied Dalam, limits of Birżebbuġa.

Although there are two important extenuating factors here – i.e. that the Mepa demerger has been pledged within the Labour manifesto and that most environmental NGOs were cautiously in favour of any move from the previous Mepa model – no one could have foreseen the toothlessness endowing the fledgling Environment and Resources Authority, which will essentially be eclipsed by its big brother – the Development Planning Authority.

Perhaps most sinister is the fact that, once the Mepa demerger materialises, any decisions taken by the Environment and Resources Authority, as well as those of the Development Planning Authority, will be subject to review by the newly-set up Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, a tribunal whose composition is entirely cherry-picked.

David Pace, the Environment and Planning Commissioner within the Office of the Ombudsman, crystallised the general sentiment about the implications of the upheaval exacted on the planning legislative infrastructure of our islands when he expressed his opinion that the proposed environment and planning amendments were a significant step backwards with regard to transparency, accountability and access to public scrutiny.

Efforts towards the proliferation of petrol stations, agricultural stores, fireworks factories and kiosks continued unabated in 2015, courtesy of the revisions to a number of environmental policies previously ushered in by the present government.

In some parts of the islands, the rural fabric is being lost in a spectacular fashion as applicants exploit to the full the new policies. For instance, the wider Magħtab-Burmarrad area will be serviced by a total of four petrol stations within a distance of two kilometres from each other, if the two pending applications are approved.

In some parts of the islands, the rural fabric is being lost in a spectacular fashion

Pre-1994 mounds of rubble (previously, the cut-off line was 1967, but the goalposts were shifted forward by 25 years courtesy of the government’s revised ODZ policies) have suddenly assumed new value as they are being latched on by applicants to accede to agricultural stores permits, some even having the brass neck to apply for two-storey stores.

One wonders if such a rabid demand for agricultural stores is really driven by a renewed interest in agriculture or by anything related, such an upsurge in needs for storage of tools, produce and whatnot, or whether it’s just speculation in most cases.

A further dead knell was sounded for the former hamlet of Burmarrad, now more of a used car dealer’s haunt, when the former emblematic Farmers Wine building was approved for conversion into more offices, storage and retail space and 107 parking spaces.

The legitimate concerns raised in this case by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) were unsurprisingly brushed away, with the case officer’s report paying lip service to the raft of Structure Plan policies which frown on such a permit by giving prominence to the arguments by the applicant’s architect and by making reference to the revised ODZ policies which given the green light to such developments.

The fate of the ex-Farmers Wine building was seemingly sealed through a temporary 99-year-long emphyteusis which restricted its use for agricultural purposes only, only to be conveniently brushed aside through the timely intervention of the Lands Department.

Every cloud has a silver lining and 2015 also witnessed the largest pro-environmental gathering on our islands when thousands marched in Valletta to demand a stop to the onslaught to which our islands was being subjected. It seems that such calls have gone unheeded, however, since no change in tack was registered in the aftermath of such a protest.

If one has to judge the day from the morning, 2016 does not purport to be much better. On January 14, in fact, the Mepa Board is set to deliberate on the planning application for a new petrol station at Triq is-Salina, Magħtab (PA/03387/14). Tough times ahead indeed…

I wish my readers all the best for 2016.

www.alandeidun.eu

alan.deidun@gmail.com

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