Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1055420
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 NEWS JAMES DEBONO PROPERTY developer Mark Gaffarena has applied to set up 3,332 photovoltaic panels on 11,060sq.m of agricultural land located in the Tal-Handaq area of Qormi, exploiting a policy loophole which left the devel- opment of solar panels set on greenhouses unregulated. The solar panels will be set up on 4m-high greenhouses. The 29,000sq.m plot where the solar farm is being proposed is adjacent to the 10,000sq.m plot which was part of the contro- versial and illegal €1.65 million cash-and-land deal the govern- ment made with Gaffarena in exchange for a 50% share in an Old Mint Street, Valletta prop- erty in 2015. The expropriation is now being challenged in court by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. This very same plot in Handaq has now been earmarked for an agritourism project. While the policy regulating solar farms bans solar farms lo- cated in the open countryside by limiting them to disused quar- ries, this ban is being circum- vented through proposals for so- lar greenhouses over substantial land parcels. Prior to the approval of this pol- icy, the PA had already approved solar panels on 11,500sq.m of agricultural land at Fiddien in Rabat. The PA is also assessing another solar greenhouse devel- opments: a 9,860sq.m develop- ment in Ta' Lelluxa in Ghajn- sielem along the Mgarr road. Meanwhile the PA has refused solar greenhouses on agricul- tural land on the scenic Munxar promontory in Marsaskala. Gaffarena applies for massive Handaq solar farm JAMES DEBONO A 10-storey development is being proposed in the Veccja area of St Paul's Bay, where an existing row of old low-rise buildings along Triq San Pawl will be demolished. The 10-storey office and apartment block includes the construction of garages in a protected area, safeguarded by the local plan, which will be excavated. The roof of the garages will include a private garden, a public garden and a playground. The proposed garages are being proposed in a protected area at Veccja, which although within development zones is listed as a 'safe- guarded area' in the North West Local Plan Policy. No residential development of any sort is allowed in such areas. According to the local plan, the site should be safeguarded from future development due to its environmental importance. The site includes old buildings with gar- dens, which lead into the safeguarded area. The row of 20th century buildings is just outside the Urban Conservation Area. The Superintendence for Cultural Herit- age has expressed concern that the pro- posed height will impact on the existing streetscape, "creating high blank walls and encouraging further vertical development in this area", and has objected to the develop- ment. Residents have also expressed concern on whether the area can withstand the pro- posed excavation works, warning that this could endanger the stability of the rocky foreshore. In 2016 a part of the cave close to the Barracuda waterpolo club collapsed while a girl was swimming with family and friends. She suffered multiple skull fractures and was in a critical condition for some time. St Paul's Bay Veccja 10-storey development looms JAMES DEBONO THE government is seeking to change the zoning of an area at Ta' Qali which presently in- cludes the Big Mat DIY store and a brick plant belonging to Attard Bros, to allow a four- storey high (17.5m) commercial development. Development in this area is presently limited to a height of 10 metres. The Planning Authority has launched a public consultation on the proposed change to plan- ning rules, after being requested to do so by the government. The justification given by gov- ernment is that existing indus- trial activities are having a nega- tive impact on the character of the area, particularly on the rec- reational area. Newly-proposed amendments to the Ta' Qali Action Plan fore- see that the area is re-zoned to permit developments such as offices, retail outlets and food and drink establishments. Pres- ently in this area permission can only be given for storage and light industry. The policy review seeks to "mitigate any adverse impacts" from the re-designation of the site by stipulating that new de- velopment shall be terraced to the heights of the existing US embassy for buildings on the perimeter of the site facing the same embassy. In this area facing Mdina, heights of buildings contiguous to the areas outside develop- ment zones, shall be kept at 10m with a stepping effect to 17.5m. A substantial part of the site presently includes the Attard Bros brick plant. Although the area is presently zoned for in- dustrial development, the Big Mat establishment was issued with a permit in 2014 because the showroom and office space were deemed to occupy a small- er percentage of the whole site belonging to Attard Bros. In 2016 Attard Bros presented an application to extend the re- tail establishment which is still pending. Ta' Qali re-zoning for four-storey developments