The graffiti-emblazoned murals of the Festival Hotel ruins, towering over the Foresta 2000 afforestation site and lying within a buffer zone of an Area of Ecological Importance (AEI), have assumed the status of a goldmine for some.

In fact, a long dormant application to redevelop the site into a hotel was exhumed last May, so as to accommodate a number of villas, while previous applications for the same site made reference to a more mixed development. The Planning Authority recently issued an enforcement notice against the owners of the site for an ‘injury to amenity’, calling upon them to propose how to mitigate the situation, probably in view of the hazardous nature of the ruins. The enforcement notice is being contested by the owners.

There is a presumption against the redevelopment of tourism facilities within rural areas entrenched within the North West Local Plan, while the Rural Policy and Design Guidelines of 2014 contemplate only the conversion of existing farm buildings into visitor attractions, which does not apply in the case of the Festival Hotel.

Despite this, the timing of the exhumation of mothballed planning applications is frequently not random and normally coincides with a change in policy direction being mulled by planning authorities, as applicants would be inclined to submit such applications when favourable planning contexts arise.

The proponents of the new hotel would contend that they are opting for a “high design quality which improves the quality of the rural landscape” which thus merits an exception and a favourable consideration. In a nutshell, the provisions against the proposed development do not provide a set of water-tight environmental safeguards since they contemplate exceptions.

The Planning Authority should oversee the complete clearance of the site from such ruins and the reinstatement of the site to its natural state, even under duress (e.g. the imposition of daily fines failing compliance).

Will fireworks trump farming?

The EPRT (Environment and Planning Review Tribunal), a convoluted term for the more familiar Appeals Board, will next week pronounce itself on a 10-year-old saga whose outcome risks wreaking untold ecological damage to a corner of wilderness in Mellieħa. The appeal was lodged by the operators of an impromptu fireworks factory currently operating in the absence of any regulation against enforcement action instituted by Mepa for the illegal operation of a fireworks-producing facility. This came on the heels of a rejection by Mepa of a sanctioning request for such a facility in 2011 and of the rebuttal of the first appeal in 2014.

The timing of the exhumation of mothballed planning applications…normally coincides with a change in policy direction being mulled by planning authorities

The area in question bestraddles two watercourses – Wied Ħanżira and Wied ir-Randa – tapped by farmers in the area for seasonal irrigation water. It skirts a scenic rambling route linking Majjistral Park and Popeye’s Village and which meanders close to the Razzett tax-Xjaten (literally, Devil’s Farmhouse), a prime example of vernacular architecture scheduled as a Grade 1 building.

The two constituted bodies most vociferous in objecting to this planning application were the EPD (currently ERA) and the Agricultural Department. The latter held that the contraveners should not be rewarded with sanctioning and that agricultural structures are to be retained for their original function. The EPD’s objections were stoked mainly by the karstic (exposed coralline limestone) nature of the surrounding area, in turn colonised by dense garrigue vegetation supporting endemic species such as the Maltese yellow kidney vetch (Anthyllis hermmaniae ssp. melitensis) and the Maltese spurge (Euphorbia melitensis).

‘Upgrading’ the makeshift fireworks factory, currently stored within a previous farm building, so as to comply with today’s safety standards, sounds prim and proper on paper but it entails a massive increase in footprint for water-storage purposes, additional powder storage rooms and also to facilitate vehicular access for fire-fighting and for stocking purposes through the opening of new roads and parking areas. This would invariably result in considerable spillage of human disturbance on the surrounding natural area.

Given the current policy framework favouring the upgrading and expansion of existing fireworks factories, there is a very real danger that this appeal will be favourably looked upon this time round. This would constitute a further proliferation of fireworks factories within areas of ecological, recreational and agricultural value.

The EPRT members should bear in mind that the Fireworks Factory Complexes Policy prohibits the approval of new such complexes within Areas of Ecological Importance of Level 1 or 2, whether listed already or just earmarked, as is the case for the Mellieħa site.

Some of the ghost fishing items collected by local and foreign divers and exhibited at the Malta National Aquarium last year.Some of the ghost fishing items collected by local and foreign divers and exhibited at the Malta National Aquarium last year.

How serious is ghost fishing?

Besides conventional fishing activity at the hands of fishermen that we are familiar with, there is a surreptitious form of fishing going on in our waters – ghost fishing, which does not require the direct contribution of fishermen but which happens through DFG (Derelict Fishing Gear) lying on the seabed.

DFG items include mostly discarded or lost fishing pots and cages and tangled gillnets. A number of commendable initiatives in recent years has shed light on the scale of the problem in our waters by bringing to the surface tons of DFG.

An intriguing initiative launched recently by the ERRC (Emergency Response Rescue Corps), supported through a grant from the Environment Ministry (MECSD) and also by the ISDA (International Scuba Diving Academy) relies on citizen science. It calls upon divers, fishermen and anyone au courant with our seas to report upon, through an online portal, any ghost fishing gear on the seabed. The portal also features a list of Scuba diving clubs currently participating in efforts to recover DFG from our waters. Kodus indeed!

The portal can be found at https://www.ghostfishingmalta.com/dive-centres-involved .

alan.deidun@gmail.com

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