Greed has, since time immemorial, been demonised as the root of many a scourge that befall humans. This is reflected in the plethora of proverbs from different civilisations and of quotations from famous personalities that revolve around the concept of greed.

For instance, according to a Swiss proverb, “A greedy person and a pauper are practically one and the same”, while the most celebrated of sayings about greed probably hails from Mahatma Gandhi: “There is sufficiency in the world for man’s needs but not for man’s greed.”

At the risk of sounding too critical of the Maltese persona, the concept of greed seems to have been elevated to a new status locally, especially where ODZ land uptake is involved, with the current fuel station sham boom being a case in point.

While there is an overall general consensus that the island’s roads are saturated with fuel stations, planning applications for lavish new ones are being continuously churned out, defying the very concept of sustainability that we harp about so much. And the most preposterous aspect of this whole sham is the location being proposed for the new fuel stations, literally rub shoulders with existing ones.

Take PA 07807/16 and PA 02335/07,  two of the most recent fuel station applications, referring to ODZ sites in Attard and Burmarrad, respectively.

Yes, that’s right, this is no fib: these are two localities thar have already borne the brunt of ODZ fuel stations in recent years.

The Attard fuel station proposal is perhaps the most outrageous given that the site is less than 500 metres away from the existing Pit Stop station in Attard; it is not being justified as a relocation of an existing fuel station in a town centre; it is completely sited in an ODZ parcel of land and within the Strategic Open Gap between Attard and Ta’ Qali, and within a Drinking-Water Safeguard Zone to boot; and it will also involve the obliteration of a number of mature Aleppo pine trees, which no degree of landscaping can compensate for.

The existing fuel station policy seeks to relegate ODZ sites for the siting of new fuel stations by asserting that such sites should be considered only as a last resort, and in cases of existing fuel station relocation, with disturbed ‘Areas of Containment’ at the end of industrial areas being the preferred location for such a development.

The site for the proposed Burmarrad fuel station, combined with the proposed supermarket next door, would result in the uptake of a full one hectare (10,000 square metres) of ODZ land.

Whoever was responsible for conceiving the fuel station policy, which has catalysed such odious applications, must be kicking himself at the way it is being abused

One wonders whether the applicant even considered non-ODZ sites as alternatives when shopping around for a possible location, given the disparity in the price tag of ODZ and non-ODZ land. On that score, the Attard fuel station is in default of the policy and should be rejected outright.

The fact that the site mainly consists of abandoned farmland which shows the hallmarks of occasional dumping of construction and demolition waste is no straw to cling to since the prior despoilment of a site should not be used as a pretext to justify its development – rather, the owner should be held accountable to clear the said rubble.

The proposed fuel station at Burmarrad is  within a stone’s throw of the one approved only last year, and is being presented as the relocation of an existing refuelling facility located in the heart of the hamlet.

One concedes that relocating existing refuelling facilities from residential areas is commendable, but any environmental gains from such a move quickly fizzle out when one considers the increase in land-uptake footprint that the new development will entail. In fact, what is being essentially being proposed is to replace the previous modest kerbside refuelling facilities with a quantum leap of a footprint of tens of square metres, combined with opulent facilities extending into the thousands of square metres. Hardly a case of quid pro quo.

One may argue that any objectors opposing the expansion of the fuel station network are simply spokes in the wheels of the economic growth juggernaut and that the growing number of fuel stations is needed to cater for the burgeoning fleet of vehicles on the island’s roads.

However, even a cursory look at the existing fuel stations will justify the misgivings surrounding the applications for new stations. For instance, a fuel station along the Tal-Barrani Bypass leading from Tarxien to Żejtun has opened a fully-fledged bakery as part of its facilities, while the Pit Stop fuel station in Attard has applied to add a restaurant at first floor level.

This adds to the myriad of other ‘ancillary facilities’, such as car-wash, tyre-repair, retail, bottle-dispensing and cash-withdrawal, that are embellishing fuel station applications so as to take up the full 3,000-square-metre footprint as prescribed by the relevant planning policy.

Whoever was responsible for conceiving the fuel station policy, which has catalysed such odious applications, must be kicking himself at the way it is being abused. Rather than leading to relocations on public health grounds, they are paving the way for grandiose ODZ developments.

To crown the bleak future being contemplated for what used to be a farmers’ hamlet at Burmarrad, a gargantuan supermarket is being proposed right next door to the site being slated for the new fuel station on the outskirts of Burmarrad, thus pushing the urban sprawl further out into the surrounding countryside.

In what has now become a well-re­hearsed script, the parcel of land in question, which measures nearly 7,000 square metres, is largely fallow (hence earning the label of ‘of poor agricultural quality’) and has been slapped with an enforcement notice for illegal parking since 2007, with Mepa or the PA (the authority has changed name since then) putting enforcement action on the backburner.

The supermarket application could be described at best as being frivolous and extravagant given that there are at least two other supermarkets located in close proximity (i.e. within a five-minute drive) to the proposed development.

Collectively, the supermarket and fuel station being proposed at Burmarrad will involved the uptake of one hectare, or 10,000 square metres, of ODZ land, which is equivalent to a full-sized football pitch.

alan.deidun@gmail.com  

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece