The Nationalist Party said on Wednesday that it backs a revision of the Fuel Service Stations Policy.
Environment Minister Jose' Herrera last week urged the Environment Authority to propose a new policy after several controversial permits issued by the Planning Authority.
The PN said it was of the view that the current policy gave rise to abuse, leading to the loss of virgin land.
The PN also backed the relocation of petrol stations away from the heart of built-up areas.
It suggested that the policy review would include a study of the number of stations Malta needed, and the state of the existing ones.
It would be a mistake for the country to continue to take up undeveloped land for fuel stations when the future was in electric vehicles, the PN said.
The party also suggested a consultation with the public, environmental NGOs and other interested parties.
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE DISCUSSES POLICY REVIEW
Partit Demokratiku MP Godfrey Farrugia called for thresholds to limit the number of fuel stations in any particular area as environment committee MPs met to discuss a review of the controversial Fuel Stations Policy.
Dr Farrugia said that data should be collected on the geographical density of the 85 existing fuel stations in Malta and Gozo, and scientific thresholds set to guide the PA in deciding new applications.
The standardised threshold, he said, should be based on projections as defined by the national policy that would ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.
Several MPs also raised concerns about the impact of the current policy on ODZ land.
Dr Herrera, the environment minister, said the cumulative effect of “mushrooming” fuel stations was eating away rural land, highlighting issues with the implementation of the policy, particularly the allowed 3,000 square metre area and the fact that required landscaping often took up even more land.
Nationalist party MP Karol Aquilina described the 3,000 square metre area as excessive and said the way forward should be to limit fuel stations to land that was already committed by development, and away from virgin land.
Environment authority CEO Victor Axiak said that since the policy’s introduction, economic and health considerations had taken priority over the environment. He said that, given the size of the island and the lack of open areas, a better balance needed to be achieved with respect to environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, Malta Developers Association chairman Sandro Chetcuti called on the authorities to bear in mind that some had already undertaken commitments for new fuel stations under the policy, and should not be unfairly impacted by the review.
He noted that due to requirements in the present policy fuel station licences were being sold for as much as €2 million. If the policy requirements were loosened, he added, some of this money could instead be redirected as an environmental contribution.