The Planning Authority has given the go-ahead for a controversial fireworks factory on the outskirts of Għarb, Gozo to be built.
Its decision followed a case officer's report which recommended approval and was granted on the basis that the application fully complied with a new fireworks policy.
The case officer's recommendation came despite the site being on ODZ virgin land and a stone's throw away from two sites which killed 10 people in two separate explosions in 2010 and 2012. Plans for the new factory incorporate several safety features.
A large group of objectors, mostly people owning neighbouring fields, attended today's PA session.
Architect Carmel Caccopardo, appearing on behalf of objectors, argued that the updated case officer’s report that took the new fireworks policy into account did not consider general principles which should still have applied, such as the local plan and the fact that the area was designated as one of high landscape sensitivity.
Objectors also noted that the factory would be detrimental to tourists and countryside walkers, given that many of Gozo's circular walks cut through the proposed site.
They also highlighted the fact that a road leading to the proposed factory had been illegally widened including excavations and concrete. The applicants deny any responsibility.
An application to build a fireworks factory on the site had first been filed by Raymond Cauchi and Ruben Camilleri in 2011 but was turned down a year later.
However, an appeal was upheld and the application was sent back for reassessment in terms of the fireworks factory complexes policy.
In his recommendation, the case officer stated that the land at Landar ta’ Geriska was dry, not protected by a designation in a development plan and not located within borehole buffer zones.
No mention is made of a referendum held in 2010, when residents voted against more fireworks factories being built in their locality. The consultative referendum was called by the local council in the wake of the 2010 explosion, and 60 per cent of voters were against the granting of new permits.