Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1272935
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JULY 2020 9 NEWS tect and former Labour MP Charles Buhagiar on behalf of owner Carmelo Sacco, will see the replacement of the exist- ing soil with a stretch of con- crete flooring for the storage of boats. The PA decides on 8 August. Aerial photos show the site was entirely agricultural before 2012, but was later cleared and used for the storage of cars in 2016, with palm trees planted along the road. The site is outside the lim- its to development and is sur- rounded by agricultural fields. The Environment and Re- sources Authority also object- ed, saying it would set a prec- edent for the further uptake of the remaining rural land in this area, which acts as a gap between the Freeport area and the industrial area of Hal Far. The development is also in breach of the Marsaxlokk Bay Local Plan, which specifies that further expansion of the industrial site just north of Hal Far industrial estate will be refused, and because the boatyard is neither legitimate nor necessary within the rural area. A small number of boat en- thusiasts supported the appli- cation as it would offer a suit- able place owners to park their boats and trailers instead of leaving them in public streets. The boatyard is being pro- posed on a site adjacent to a proposed petrol station. The latter application, pre- sented by Michael Zammit, envisages the relocation of a single petrol pump in Rabat, Gozo to the 3,000sq.m field. This application stands no chance of being approved un- der the new planning poli- cy regulating petrol stations, which replaced the policy en- acted in 2015. Resources Authority and the Ag- riculture Advisory Committee ob- jecting to its development on culti- vable land. The fuel station was approved thanks to a loophole through which ODZ land could be allocated for the development of brand new fuel stations and not just relocated ones, when the land is located next to an area of containment, a designation for commercial areas located out- side development zones. In 2017, the applicants had no ca- tering establishment in their plans. But in 2018, the Planning Author- ity approved a 58sq.m snack bar – where no cooking is allowed – on land originally allocated for a car ac- cessories shop. Earlier this year the owners were granted a change-of- use permit to allow cooking on site. The 2015 policy vaguely allowed ancillary structures which "comple- ment" fuel stations. But while the revised fuel stations rules banned catering or shops on such sites, this was changed in the policy's final ver- sion. Still, most of the loopholes for ODZ petrol stations were closed, as in the case of the Burmarrad station, where retail and catering facilities are restricted to ground floor level only. So the two-level catering fa- cility being proposed is already in breach of the new policy. The McQueens petrol station is owned by Construction and Turn- key House Ltd, a company owned by Joseph Attard and Anthony Ciappara. Attard was also the owner of Sunjoy company, which he co- owned with parliamentary secretary Chris Agius. The company was later struck off.