Moviment Graffitti filed an appeal with the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) against the Planning Authority’s (PA) decision to approve a massive fuel station on ODZ in Burmarrad. In this outrageous decision taken last April, the PA Board granted a permit for a tiny fuel pump of around 2m² to be “relocated” on 3,700m² of good agricultural land. This development would include several retail facilities in addition to the fuel station.

Moviment Graffitti appealed this decision since the PA Board has once again shown a total disregard for the policies regulating development in Malta. As if it were not bad enough that the 2015 Fuel Service Station Policy considers primarily developers’ interests rather than the environment, the PA Board chooses to blatantly ignore even the minimum and insufficient environmental safeguards contained in this Policy.

In fact, the Fuel Service Station Policy clearly specifies that fuel stations are not to be relocated on “good agricultural land”. This Burmarrad ODZ site has been certified by all the expert consultees and relevant authorities as “good agricultural land” and is currently used for agricultural purposes.

Moreover, the Policy states that ODZ fuel stations shall have a footprint not exceeding 3,000m². The approved fuel station’s size is 3,700m².

The appeal also includes a number of other grounds relating to the incomplete documentation available to the public prior and during the hearing, the PA Board not giving reasons for its decision and the Board’s disregard for policies such as the Rural Policy, the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) and the Agricultural Policy.

This decision by the PA Board is the perfect example of how the planning process in Malta is systematically leading to the destruction of our country in order to satisfy the greed of the few. To make sure that developers are totally accommodated, the PA Board shamelessly ignores even the feeble safeguards provided by the PA’s own defective policies.

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Il-Moviment Graffitti jappella d-deċiżjoni tal-PA li approvat pompa tal-petrol enormi fuq ODZ f’Burmarrad

Il-Moviment Graffitti ppreżenta appell lit-Tribunal ta’ Revizjoni tal-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar (EPRT) kontra d-deċiżjoni tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar (PA) li tiġi approvata pompa tal-petrol enormi fuq ODZ f’Burmarrad. F’din id-deċiżjoni atroċi li ttieħdet f’April li għadda, il-Bord tal-PA ħareġ permess biex pompa ta’ madwar 2m² tkun “rilokata” fuq medda ta’ art agrikola
tajba ta’ 3,700m². Apparti l-pompa tal-petrol, dan l-iżvilupp se jkun jinkludi wkoll diversi ħwienet u servizzi kummerċjali.

Il-Moviment Graffitti appella din id-deċiżjoni peress li l-Bord tal-PA reġa’ għal darb’oħra wera li ma jimpurtah xejn mill-policies li jirregolaw l-iżvilupp f’Malta. Bħallikieku ma kienx diġa ħażin li l-Fuel Service Station Policy tal-2015 tħares prinċipalment l-interessi tal-iżviluppaturi minflok l-ambjent, il-Bord tal-PA għażel li jinjora sfaċċatament anki l-ftit miżuri insuffiċjenti li jissalvagwardjaw l-ambjent li hemm f’din il-Policy.

Fil-fatt, il-Fuel Service Station Policy tispeċifika b’mod ċar li l-pompi tal-petrol ma jistgħux jiġu rilokati fuq “art agrikola tajba”. Dan is-sit ODZ f’Burmarrad ġie ċċertifikat mill-konsulenti esperti u l-awtoritajiet konċernati kollha bħala “art agrikola tajba” u bħalissa qed jiġi użat għal skopijiet agrikoli.

Barra minn hekk, il-Policy tesiġi li pompi tal-petrol ODZ ma jistgħux ikunu ikbar minn 3,000m². Id-daqs tal-pompa li ġiet approvata huwa ta’ 3,700m².

L-appell jinkludi wkoll numru ta’ raġunijiet oħra marbutin mad-dokumentazzjoni mhux sħiħa li l-pubbliku kellu aċċess għaliha kemm qabel u waqt is-seduta, mal-fatt li l-Bord tal-PA ma tax raġunijiet għad-deċiżjoni tiegħu kif ukoll injora kompletament policies bħar-Rural Policy, l- iStrategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) u l-Agricultural Policy.

Din id-deċiżjoni tal-Bord tal-PA hija eżempju perfett ta’ kif il-proċess tal-ippjanar f’Malta qiegħed sistematikament iwassal għall-qerda ta’ pajjiżna biex tiġi sodisfatta r-regħba tal-ftit. Biex jiżġura li jinqdew l-iżviluppaturi, il-Bord tal-PA jinjora bla mistħija ta’ xejn anki l-ftit salvagwardji dgħajfa li jipprovdu l-policies difettużi tal-istess PA.