Mepa’s decision to remove the protection granted to an area in Siġġiewi was not in line with the law since the local council was not consulted, according to an appeal filed by the council and Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar.
Local councils must be consulted on decisions taken by authorities that may affect their locality, according to both the Local Councils Act and the European charter of local self-government, the appeal noted.
The two parties asked for a reversal of the decision.
Mepa recently descheduled part of an area known as Ta’ Dmejrek, in the vicinity of Ta’ Żuta in Siġġiewi. The decision was endorsed by Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon.
In a sworn statement submitted with the appeal to the planning authority, mayor Karol Aquilina and executive secretary Nicholas Baldacchino said the council was neither consulted nor informed of the decision to remove the area’s protection. The council learnt about the descheduling following a report in this newspaper.
Mepa said the decision was taken because the land was already disturbed. The planning authority admitted it was the owners of the land that requested the removal of the protection. The planning authority also insisted the descheduling occurred after the owner had commissioned “a number of scientific studies”.
Requests sent to Mepa on September 29 to provide a copy of the studies have remained unanswered. A quarry and stone-crushing plant is operating right up to the edge of the descheduled area and has two enforcement notices dating back to the 1990s.
The quarry owners said they did not know whether the descheduled area was part of their land, but they also said that they were in ongoing talks with Mepa to sanction infringements.
The quarry has at least three different operators.
The infringements consist of illegal excavations outside the permitted boundary and within an archaeological area, a special area of conservation under the Habitats Directive, an area of ecological importance and a special area of conservation of international importance, according to Mepa documents.
Architect Carmel Cacopardo noted in the appeal submitted on behalf of the local council and FAA that the descheduled area had a Level 3 protection, meaning it was designated as a buffer zone to the adjacent area enjoying greaterprotection. By removing the buffer zone, Mepa has opened up the adjacent area to greater risk.
An archaeological site known as x-Xagħra ta’ l-Għar il-Kbir as well as cart ruts lie within a few hundred metres of the descheduled site.
caroline.muscat@timesofmalta.com