Having exempted the new Ta’ Kandja shooting range from the scrutiny of normal planning procedures, the government is now refusing to publish any studies carried out in connection with the project.

Earmarked for completion by next June, in time for the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup which will be held in Malta, the €7 million facility has also made headlines over a long list of direct orders recently awarded by government.

The procedure was justified on the grounds of the tight completion deadline, though the government has known that Malta was hosting the event since 2015.

Last month, the Times of Malta requested a copy of studies carried out on the project, which lies just 500 metres away from the Malta International Airport runway.

Furthermore, the facility, which will be shared between the shooting federation, the police and the army, will be less than two kilometres away from Siġġiewi, Mqabba and Qrendi.

READ: Massive shooting range approved without full development application

Police officers who spoke with the Times of Malta on condition of anonymity expressed concerns on a number of counts.

They questioned if any studies had been carried out on the possibility that projectiles could hit an aircraft, as well the impact of the noise disturbances to neighbouring communities. While acknowledging that there had already been a shooting range at the same spot, they pointed out that this time the facility would be on a much larger scale and operate on a commercial basis.

“Though it may sound like a remote possibility, under the right conditions, a projectile may travel over two kilometres,” they pointed out.

“This means it will be within range of both the runway and the neighbouring villages,” they added.

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Times of Malta also spoke to a shooting sports expert, who pointed out that the main consideration was the orientation of the ranges.

In the right conditions, a projectile may travel in range of the runway and nearby villages

“The competitor’s line of vision should never interfere with the airplane’s fly path, as it would surely distract their concentration and thus decrease their aiming precision,” he said.

Nonetheless, he subscribed to the view that the close proximity to the runway warranted “an added cautionary dose of planning”. In view of these concerns, the Times of Malta asked the government about the studies carried out in connection with the project. Despite repeated attempts, an Education Ministry spokeswoman limited herself to saying that all relevant, required reports had been compiled.

Asked for a copy of the reports, the ministry was not forthcoming. The lack of available information was further compounded by the fact that the project was not subject to a full development application. Consequently the publicly available documents on the Planning Authority’s website are limited.

The shooting range was given the green light by means of a fast-track application, known as Development Notification Order, which is normally used for minor projects.

This exemption was possible by virtue of Legal Notice 199 issued in August last year, whereby it was decreed that any developments within police property, in this case the Ta’ Kandja academy, could be carried out by means of a simple DNO.

The range was given the green light through a fast-tracked Development Notification Order filed by the Police Commissioner. Photo: Matthew MirabelliThe range was given the green light through a fast-tracked Development Notification Order filed by the Police Commissioner. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The concession was made on the grounds that this kind of development, a shooting range partly for sport and leisure purposes, would be “required for national security reasons”.

It transpired that the DNO was filed by Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar in August and approved last November.

The list of publicly available documents does not include any studies, except for a brief submission by the Environment Resources Authority in which it requested the applicant to propose design measures to mitigate the operational noise generated by the facility.

While the ERA document made mention of a project description statement which was submitted on November 13, 2017, no such document could be found on the Planning Authority’s website.

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