Updated at 12.15pm: Decision put off

The Planning Authority on Thursday put off a decision on an application for a new fuel station outside development zones, on agricultural land close to the Bulebel industrial estate.

The PA board voted by eight to two to allow the applicant another month for new agricultural studies to be analysed, and to clear up uncertainty on the designation of the adjoining road, one of the reasons behind the application being recommended for refusal.

The application would take up about 3,000 square metres of land in a designated area of agricultural importance and a valley protection zone linked to the Wied iż-Żrinġ watercourse.

It has drawn objections from some 200 members of the public, who have pointed out the large number of fuel stations in the vicinity and the loss of good quality agricultural land. The Environment and Resources Authority is also against it.

In its objection, the ERA said the project would be incongruous with the rural characteristics of the remaining agricultural area and “significantly contribute to further environmental degradation” there.

A negative impact on the surrounding countryside

The watchdog said its overriding objection was the encroachment into ODZ land that served as a strategic open gap between the Bulebel industrial estate and its surroundings.

“ERA considers there is no valid justification for the further loss of undeveloped rural land and the associated environmental impacts to accommodate even further development of petrol stations,” it said.

“There is also concern regarding the cumulative environmental impact cause by the numerous ad hoc proposals for petrol stations currently being proposed on ODZ land,” the regulator added.

Read: Land more than five times the Fosos earmarked for ODZ fuel stations

The Design Advisory Committee has noted that the proposal would have a “considerable negative impact on the surrounding countryside from an aesthetic point of view”.

The application will be the latest to be decided before the conclusion of a pending review of the controversial fuel stations policy, approved in 2015.

ERA proposals for the revision would rule out new developments in ODZ areas and reduce the maximum size of new stations from 3,000 to 2,000 square metres and increase the minimum distance between facilities from 500 metres to 1.5 kilometres, among other limitations.

The new policy will not apply to pending applications, which will continue to be assessed under the existing, more permissive policy. Since 2015, the PA has approved four ODZ fuel stations on a total of 12,000 square metres of agricultural land in Luqa, Burmarrad, Marsascala and Magħtab, the last of which prompted Environment Minister José Herrera to call for the policy review in January.

The 12 applications that remain pending include proposals in Burmarrad, Żejtun, Rabat Road in Attard and several others, which collectively would take up an additional area of more than 52,000 square metres.

Read: Where are all these petrol stations coming from?

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.