Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1340314
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 FEBRUARY 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO A massive solar farm covering over 10,500sq.m of land is being proposed outside development zones along Triq il-Kbira in Mo- sta. The parcel of land is located in the outskirts of Mosta just outside the development zone along the road leading to Rabat and Mgarr in the vicinity of Wied ta' l-Sper- anza. A proposed policy regulating solar farms limits such develop- ments to used quarries but a loop- hole in the rural policy is being exploited to propose these devel- opments on agricultural land. As proposed, 2,076 solar panels would be installed on five large green houses which would occupy 6,963sq.m of agricultural land. Both the Environment and Re- sources Authority and the PA's internal advisory panel on agri- cultural issues are objecting to the proposal because the applicant – Brendan Borg – is not registered as a farmer and the site is not reg- istered with the Department of Agriculture. ERA is insisting that in the ab- sence of proof of agricultural pro- duction, the proposal cannot be considered genuine to agricultural needs, as it appears that the large greenhouses with incorporated solar panels will operate as a solar farm. "The proposal is therefore con- sidered objectionable from an en- vironmental point of view", ERA concluded. The Agriculture Advisory Com- mittee has also requested a tech- nical report indicating the effect of the proposed PV panels on the lighting intensity inside the green- houses and therefore on the fruit/ vegetables intended to be harvest- ed. ERA has recently objected to the erection of 6,000 photovolta- ic panels on two massive green- houses in Manikata, describing the proposal as "excessive" and insisting such a development should ideally not be located in open countryside. In that case, the development was proposed by a registered farmer who owns a part of the site. The planning policy regulating the development of solar farms excludes such developments in agricultural areas. According to the policy, which is still awaiting final approval, "solar farms should not take up virgin land, or agricul- tural land". In fact the policy steers solar farms towards areas of low land- scape sensitivity like quarry sites. A Strategic Environment Assess- ment is currently being conducted to assess the impact of the policy on 27 quarries located in Natura 2000 sites. Most solar farms approved since 2013 have been located in quarries or former landfills. These include the already approved Bengħisa solar farm constructed on the site of a former dump, covering 29,000sq.m of land and producing a total of 2,400kWh of energy. Another large private solar farm was approved on a 77,000sq.m backfilled quarry in Mgarr, be- neath the Falka Gap ridge. The privately-owned farm includes 16,896 panels, generating 8.65 million units of clean energy per year, which are fed into the na- tional power grid. But a small number solar pan- els have been approved on the open countryside on top of green- houses. The rural policy of 2014 encourages farmers to opt for greenhouse development to boost income through "intensive crop cultivation" and overcoming cli- matic constraints on fruit and vegetable production. But no policy currently regulates 'solar greenhouses'. The PA has already approved an 11,500sq.m solar farm at Fiddien in Rabat but refused another proposal in the sensitive area of Munxar in Mar- saskala, where greenhouses were set to cover 4,000sq.m of land. Over the past weeks, two other applications for greenhouse de- velopments with overlying solar panels have been filed. A 2.2MW photovoltaic plant was proposed by Electrofix Group on a 26,000sq.m plot of agricul- tural land, along Triq Burmarrad and Triq Is-Sardin in the Burmar- rad hamlet. A smaller 'solar' greenhouse which utilises eco-friendly aqua- ponics, is being proposed by Luxury Living Technology on 873sq.m of agricultural land along Mdina Road in Mgarr. 10,500sq.m solar farm proposed on Mosta farmland A court has granted bail to one of two men arrested in a police raid in Paola last December, in which €800,000 worth of luxury cars, gold and cash were recov- ered. Melvin Debono, 29 from Pao- la had been arrested together with 40-year-old Dean Martin of Hamrun and charged with possession of cocaine, heroin and cannabis in circumstances which denoted they were not for their personal use. Debono alone was also accused of six counts of money laundering and with breaching a number of bail decrees. The men are being tried sepa- rately. Although the Attorney Gen- eral had opposed Debono's re- lease on bail, in a decree issued this morning, magistrate Neville Camilleri, upheld the defence's request for the man's release from arrest, ordering the man to provide a €10,000 deposit and a personal guarantee of €25,000 as security. In a related case, about the same investigation, Dean Martin, who is accused of similar charges re- mains under arrest until his next sitting on 23 February. Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca, Steven Ryan Micallef and Omar Caruana are prose- cuting. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camillleri are appearing for Debono. Money laundering, drug trafficking suspect, arrested after December police raid, granted bail