A court has blocked the Planning Authority from deciding on controversial plans for an ODZ fuel station in Magħtab until an appeal by residents has been resolved.
The court’s decision prolongs a saga that has already lasted about five years, during which time the PA was forced to decide on the project on three separate occasions.
The proposal, by Paul Abela of Abel Energy, aims to demolish two derelict farmhouses on Triq is-Salina, close to T’Alla u Ommu hill in Naxxar, to build a fuel station and related facilities.
It has faced sustained opposition from residents and environmental groups over its proximity to nearby houses, the take-up of agricultural land and the impact on the area’s rural character.
The planning watchdog had contentiously approved the project in January 2018, prompting the government to order a review of the planning policy under which the permit was issued.
However, the planning appeals tribunal annulled the decision last April on procedural grounds that residents objecting to the project had not been given access to information provided to the developers ahead of the hearing where the project was greenlit.
Although objectors agreed with the tribunal’s decision to send the case back to the PA, they took issue with one point which said residents were to be assumed to have been updated with all relevant documents. In a court appeal over this point, residents argued that this was “absolutely not the case”.
PA forced to decide on the project on three occasions
Before the appeal could be heard, however, the PA scheduled a hearing for April 25 to again decide on the application, prompting residents to return to block the hearing until the appeal was decided.
In its decision, the court upheld the residents’ request for an injunction, concluding that their rights would otherwise be prejudiced.
The PA had already postponed the hearing following the request to the courts and will now have to wait until a decision on the appeal before rescheduling.
The residents are represented by lawyer Tanya Sciberras Camilleri.
Dating back to 2014, the fuel station proposal had originally been rejected by the PA on the basis of SPED (Strategic Plan for Environment and Development) policy before the decision was reversed in 2018 due to the fuel stations policy, which has since been reviewed.
A draft of the revised policy, published for public consultation in April but not yet implemented, drastically reduces the maximum size allowed for fuel stations from 3,000 to 1,000 square metres.
It also limits outside development zone fuel stations to ‘relocations’ of existing facilities from urban cores as well as tightening restrictions on the use of agricultural land.