Mepa chairman Vince Cassar. Photos: Darrin Zammit Lupi

A long-awaited Mepa decision on a proposed petrol station in Magħtab was deferred once again in bizarre circumstances yesterday after an argument between the Mepa chairman and architect Carmel Cacopardo.

Mr Cacopardo, representing Magħtab residents who have vehemently opposed the development, accused the Mepa planning directorate of deliberately and intentionally excluding key facts from its report to the board, to favour the proposed development.

Chairman Vince Cassar called on Mr Cacopardo to immediately withdraw the accusation or leave the room, which Mr Cacopardo refused to do. Following a heated exchange during which Mr Cacopardo insisted he would remain unless forcibly removed, Mr Cassar stormed out of the room instead.

Architect Carmel Cacopardo.

The incident occurred at the end of a two-hour hearing. A decision on the proposal had already been deferred last month after a failed attempt by residents to obtain a court injunction against the development.

The application, made by Paul Abela of Abel Energy, is to demolish two derelict farmhouses and build a fuel station with an electric car charging station, car wash, shop, mechanic workshop, stores and a parking lot that would take 17 cars.

The proposed site is a triangular-shaped piece of land in Triq is-Salina and Trejqet l-Arznu, Naxxar, near the T’Alla u Ommu hill, covering an area of 3,593 square metres.

The application is recommended for approval in line with Mepa’s Fuel Service Stations Policy, a new policy which allows petrol stations to be relocated to rural areas outside development zones.

Residents, however, have complained that the site is directly adjacent to a number of homes, and would bring with it a host of environmental issues including increased traffic, rural deterioration and noise pollution.

There are further concerns about potential flooding and substandard traffic safety measures in the area, which is one of the biggest traffic accident hotspots on the island.

Mepa’s planning directorate deliberately and intentionally excluded key facts

Serious objections have also been raised by the Naxxar local council and Mepa’s own Environment Protection Directorate, on the basis that the proposed development “is located in a predominantly open and undeveloped rural area and involves excessive land take-up”.

The arguments during yesterday’s hearing centred largely around the application of policy CG 04, which requires the Magħtab settlement to be “conserved, consolidated and rehabilitated while protecting [its] rural character”.

The planning directorate argued that the proposed site fell outside the limits of the applicable area, but residents brought evidence of several cases of applications on adjacent sites that had been turned down on the basis of the same policy.

The site is listed within the boundaries of the policy on Mepa’s own map server.

Meanwhile, the Mepa board also approved a landscaping scheme for the sewage treatment plant at Ta’ Barkat, in the limits of Xgħajra, 11 years after the application for the plant was approved with landscaping as a condition.

The works will include the construction of terraced parcels forming an embankment, divided by rubble walls, as well as the planting of nearly 200 trees.

The approval was welcomed by Xgħajra mayor Anthony Valvo, who told the board: “I’ve grown old waiting for the landscaping to finally be carried out.

“Now I’m just hoping to see it done before I die.”