Controversial plans to build large ‘solar greenhouses’ in an untouched stretch of land close to St Thomas Bay in Marsascala have been dropped amid widespread opposition.
The proposal to build several 4.8 metre-high greenhouses topped with solar panels covering some 4,000 square metres had been set for refusal by the Planning Authority on Monday due to the impact on the Munxar promontory, part of a designated national park and scheduled Area of High Landscape Value.
However, the application was withdrawn by the applicant before a decision could be taken.
The greenhouses had drawn more than 200 objections from the public as well as from the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, which expressed its “apprehension” over the development and warned that the greenhouses “will be very visible and … impact the existing context”.
Highlighting the area’s protected status, the nearby Grade 1 scheduled Rihama Battery, and the recorded megalithic remains at Xrobb l-Għaġin, the SCH said “the planning, management and protection of Maltese landscapes is to be guided by the principles enshrined in the European Landscape Convention”.
Residents and others who submitted their own objections called for the area to be kept untouched and expressed fears that the current application would be a precursor to more expansive developments in the area.
Applicant Rennie Scicluna had previously applied to convert the land in Munxar into an agritourism complex, including accommodation, a restaurant, health and fitness centre, conference centre, animal farm and greenhouses.
The proposal stalled when the PA said in a screening letter it was incompatible with the conservation of the area’s rural characteristics and scheduling status.
The greenhouse application is one of several submitted in different parts of Malta in recent years. The PA has already approved nearly 20,000 square metres of solar panels on greenhouses or in rural areas, with pending applications potentially tripling that area in the coming months.
A policy introduced last year to encourage and regulate solar farm developments specifically excludes open countryside, protected or scenic areas, Natura 2000 sites and land registered for agricultural purposes, but makes no reference to greenhouse installations.
During public consultation on the policy, the PA indicated that the visual impact arising from these projects would be “assessed with mitigation measures in place on a case-by-case basis”.
The policy aims to increase the generation of clean energy by up to 50MW peak and help reach the EU2020 target of having 10 per cent of total energy generation from renewable sources. This figure currently stands at six per cent.