Disused quarries should be landscaped and re-used for agricultural or public recreational purposes and not used as a pretext for more residential and industrial development, Front Harsien ODZ said this morning. 

The NGO is objecting to the construction of a 133-room old people’s home in Swieqi's Wied Ghomor valley, the dimensions of which would occupy eight per cent of the quarry and rise two storeys above the quarry. A report by the planning directorate is recommending the approval of this development.

"We recognise that such quarries are in private ownership and are presently eyesores. But this should not be an excuse for new buildings in rural areas. This is because such development will expose ODZ areas to more traffic."

The Front noted that the local plan stipulates that any new building is to “occupy a minimal part of the site” and that in 2011 Mepa was arguing that only five per cent of the site should be developed.

According to Mepa's Social Facilities and Community Care Topic Paper old people’s homes should be located close to or within a town or village centres to ensure the full integration of the elderly in local communities.

A compensation fund administrated by the new lands authority, the environment authority and the planning authority should be established for this purpose.