A service station and an adjoining showroom and workshop, planned to be constructed on virgin land at the outskirts of Mġarr, have been recommended for planning authority approval by Mepa’s case officer.
If approved by the authority’s Development Control Commission, the petrol station will replace one that lies in Mġarr square and will provide for five fuel pumps, a workshop, a store for agricultural machinery and tools, a showroom, an office, a car wash, a jet wash and a parking space built over 2,406 square metres of agricultural land.
The current petrol station is considered incompatible with its surroundings.
“The problem is Mepa is removing an eyesore and creating even a bigger one,” Mġarr resident Joe Attard said.
Mr Attard was also critical of the change in size of the petrol station: “At present there is only a garage of 150 square metres and an illegal scrapyard.”
In fact, the report by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s case officer highlights the illegalities on the present site, which, the report says, are meant to be “removed” as part of the relocation.
Mr Attard said: “The site he has chosen is semi garigue, semi agriculture land and is close to a massive vineyard. It is also situated on a slope where the valley starts. A large reservoir collects rainwater from both directions of the Żebbiegħ main thoroughfare and water finds its way to Għajn Riħana. This valley is one of a few we have in Malta that has water all year round, and the moorhen has been breeding in this valley for the past years.”
The area, which lies in an Outside Development Zone, is also host to two old ġiren (corbelled stone huts) which are protected property under the Environmental Protection Act.
Asked whether the ġiren would be safeguarded, a Mepa spokes-man said the authority was “investigating the case” and that it would appreciate “any information which can help the authority in its investigation”.
On how the authority could justify recommending for approval a larger development than the one which it was replacing, the spokesman said “there is an outline permit on site which the directorates are obliged to take into account”.
The case officer, among other things, looks at the recommendations of an Environment Impact Statement that was carried out as a condition of the outline permit.
The study involved a site selection exercise which determined that the site was the “most suited when assessed against a number of criteria”. The case officer also recommended landscaping to mitigate the visual impact of the development on the surrounding area.