Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1409324
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority's ex- ecutive council has approved a zoning request for a new road inside Mellieħa's Santa Marija estate to make way for six new bungalows built on 7,500sq.m of dense woodland, one of the last undeveloped plots in the villa area. All board members voted in favour bar the CEO of the En- vironment and Resources Au- thority, Michelle Piccinno, and the ERA's deputy chairperson Carmen Buttigieg. Both the PA's executive chair- man Maryin Saliba and PA board chairman Vince Cassar, voted in favour. The woodland area has been listed as "an area of ecological importance" ever since 1996, for its mature trees and a pro- tected watercourse passing through the valley. However since 2006, the northwest local plan has ear- marked the area and its sur- roundings for residential devel- opment. Indeed, the case officer's re- port recommending approval for the development recognised that area is "ecologically sensi- tive". While recommending the integration of the trees in the proposed development for some six bungalows, the case officer acknowledged that the zoning request will result in the felling of mature trees. And while the report claims the issues raised by ERA had been "resolved", the ERA representatives on the PA's executive council still vot- ed against. Instead the case officer called for "precautions" and "mitiga- tion measures" to be taken the actual planning application for the bungalow development will be presented after the zoning of this new cul de sac. The road will make possible the develop- ment of the new villas. The zoning application was approved with a condition that "before the commencement of any construction works includ- ing the excavations, an environ- mental permit is to be sought from ERA prior for any inter- vention on the protected trees". According to plans submitted in the zoning application, the bungalows will occupy 30% of the site area while the new ac- cess road on its own will occupy 1,000sq.m of afforested land. It remains unclear how the up- rooting of trees can be avoided when plans show that the pro- posed cul de sac and the villas will be located on the existing woodland. Suzanne Grima's Gx4 Projects Limited presented the zoning application. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Dingli villas at hamlet's edge 'excessive' JAMES DEBONO FOUR detached villas with two pools are being proposed on ag- ricultural land along Triq Mis- raħ is-Suffara in Dingli, includ- ing landscaping works which includes hard pavements, ramps and a number of new trees. The proposed development lies partly outside development zones (ODZ) and partly within a rural hamlet where the con- struction of new dwellings is allowed. Each unit will be two floors with basement, and a 65sq.m footprint. Applicant Nazzareno Tan- ti had been granted an outline permit to construct a 150sq.m farmer's residence in 2007 with the permit being confirmed in 2012. It was approved as an 'end of scheme' development abutting an existing blank par- ty wall. But another application by the same family to construct two maisonettes on the site was turned down in 2011. New dwellings are allowed in rural hamlets like the one at Misraħ is-Suffara on condition that each new dwelling does not exceed a floor area of 150sq.m and each unit is larger than 120sq.m. But the policy also states that new buildings have to respect "the character of the settlement and its surrounding rural envi- ronment." The Environment and Resourc- es Authority is objecting to the development noting that the site is undeveloped and agricultural in nature. "The proposed devel- opment is of significant concern from an environmental point of view since it will entail the take- up of fresh land through exces- sive formalisation." It also said the development is expected to contribute to over-development of the rural area with adverse, cumulative environmental im- pacts which will "jeopardise the overall character of the area". Santa Marija estate woodland threatened by bungalows Planning Authority approves zoning request for new road paving way to six villas inside ecologically sensitive site According to plans submitted in the zoning application, the bungalows will occupy 30% of the site area while the new access road on its own will occupy 1,000sq.m of afforested land. The road will make possible the development of the new villas.