Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1400707
9 NEWS maltatoday | maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 AUGUST 2021 Mgarr Solar farm proposed on area equal to seven football grounds JAMES DEBONO AN enormous solar farm rest- ing on greenhouses is being pro- posed on an area of land the size of six to seven football pitches in an area known as Tar-Raghad along Triq il Banjijiet in Mgarr. A total of 6,023 solar panels are being proposed on top of green- houses covering 43,000 sq.m. The project put forward by the Electrofix Group is being proposed in the area between Mgarr proper, and Zebbiegh on one side and Bingemma on the other. The planning policy regulat- ing the development of solar farms excludes such develop- ments in agricultural areas. According to the policy, which is still awaiting final approval, "solar farms should not take up virgin land, or agricultural land". In fact the policy steers solar farms towards areas of low landscape sensitivity like quarry sites. The rural policy, which regu- lates agricultural development like greenhouses, only foresees the erection of small-scale pho- tovoltaic panels on rural build- ings including greenhouses. According to planning rules, any PV installation which oc- cupies a footprint larger than 1,000sq.m and which is located on ODZ land should be regu- lated by the provisions of the solar farm policy. Although the land consists of fields and garigue and its use is marked as agricultural in the application form presented by the applicant, a project de- scription statement presented by the developers described the site as a "quarry" and "an emp- ty plot of land, currently not being used". According to the data pre- sented in a land survey the depth of the site varies from 107m above sea level, on the west side of the site next to boundary wall, to 124m on the east side of the site. The project architect de- scribes the impact of the pro- ject on land use as "moderately positive" because it will "give a beneficial use to the land" while improving air quality for the whole country by reduc- ing emissions from fossil fuels. Moreover after the expiry of the solar farm's lifetime, "the site can be returned to its orig- inal state as it was before any works had been carried out". But Mgarr residents are pro- testing against the proposed solar farm. "I often go for walks with my family through the passage there and we have come across wildlife like hedgehogs, rab- bits, snakes and lizards as well as birds and insects. I am also aware of a bee colony nearby where local honey is harvested. This project will have an irre- versible effect on this wildlife", one of the objectors said. Other residents referred to the presence of arable land, garigue habitats, archaeologi- cal remains, a girna, carobs and other trees. Another objector warned that the proposed de- velopment "will literally split the village with a massive vil- lage of glass." Most solar farms approved since 2013 have been located in quarries or former land- fills. These include the al- ready approved Bengħisa solar farm constructed on the site of a former dump, covering 29,000sq.m of land and pro- ducing a total of 2,400kWh of energy. Another large private so- lar farm was approved on a 77,000sq.m backfilled quarry in Mgarr, beneath 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 national power grid. The only exception has been an 11,500sq.m solar farm at Fiddien in Rabat. The Planning Authority's board has recently turned down an application for a 9,971sq.m of land outside the development zone along Triq Mġarr in an area known as Ta' Lelluxa. But despite the policy restric- tions, over the past year a num- ber of solar farms have been proposed in the open country- side in a number of locations including Mosta, Maghtab and Manikata. The Environment and Re- sources Authority has object- ed to the solar farm proposed on two massive greenhouses in Manikata describing the devel- opment as "excessive" in the open countryside. Proponents describe the site as a "quarry" thus making it eligible for large- scale solar farm development but residents are protesting against loss of countryside