The Planning Authority has rejected a proposal to extend a car park in Tal-Balal onto 3,500 square metres of agricultural land.

The application by Alpine Rent-A-Car, off Triq Tal-Balal in Iklin, would also have sanctioned an existing 2,000 square metre car park, also on previously agricultural land, built without a permit at some point in the last five years.

The Planning Commission board voted unanimously against the application on Wednesday, despite having indicated at a hearing last June that it could be accepted since it was reversible and did not include new structures.

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) had objected to the application, insisting the illegal works already carried out should not serve as a precedent for new development at the expense of agricultural land.

The authority said urban and commercial developments should be restricted to designated areas “to control the sprawl of urban development in ODZ and reduce the take-up of undeveloped land”.

The Iklin local council also objected on the basis that the site was outside development zones, that the proposed use was urban in nature, and the substantial size of the two extensions, existing and proposed.

The PA case officer concluded that the proposed car park use was not in line with any policy provision and that there was no evidence to support the developers’ claim that the land identified as agricultural was actually a disused quarry.

The developers, meanwhile, argued that “it made sense from both an environmental perspective and from a logistics point of view” to expand its current location rather than attempting to find an alternative site.

Tal-Balal is already set to lose around 9,000 square metres of land to controversial roadworks which began in June before a permit had been issued.