This Save Wied Garnaw Action Group and Sta Lucija Residents Action Committee this morning formally submitted a petition to the planning authority against proposed developed in the Wied Garnaw area.

The petition, signed by more than 2,400 people in two weeks, refers to a proposal to build a five-storey complex for the elderly outside the development Zone in Wied Garnaw area, between Sta Lucija and Luqa.

The petition urges the authority to conclude the proposal’s screening period by informing the applicant that the proposed development is not permissible because it runs counter to various development planning policies: primarily because the site in question is outside the development zone (ODZ) and the proposed development is not essential to agricultural, scenic and ecological needs.

The proposed development is also not permissible since the South Malta Local Plan classifies the site in question as an area of agricultural importance, a rural conservation area, a valley protection zone, an aquifer protection zone and part of a strategic open space gap.

Moreover, it would also pose a severe threat to all the valley, as such a permit would be used as a precedent to press for other urban development in neighbouring fields, it said.