Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1442202
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 JANUARY 2022 JAMES DEBONO A decision on a proposed solar farm on an area the size of six football grounds on agricultural land in Mġarr, has been post- poned after the Planning Au- thority's planning commission pushed up the decision to the Planning Authority board. The planning commission takes decision on scores of mi- nor permits on a daily basis, while the Planning Board nor- mally takes decisions on larger projects. The item was removed from the commission's agenda just two days before the meeting scheduled on Friday. The commission was expect- ed to refuse the application after the case officer deemed it to be in breach of a number of policies, but on Wednesday two days before the scheduled meeting. "In view of the scale of the proposed development, the planning commission re- quested the un-delegation of the application and request- ed that this same application gets decided by the Planning Board," a PA spokesperson said. No date has yet been giv- en to the sitting. The three-member commis- sion chaired by Martin Camill- eri is responsible for deciding on permits for applications outside development zones and inside urban conserva- tion areas. Another commis- sion chaired by Claude Mallia takes decisions on applications within the development zones. Normally decisions on ma- jor projects are taken by the 11-member Planning Board chaired by Vince Cassar. The Mġarr local council, which is opposing the application, would also have a vote on the board. No clear guidelines exist to determine which cases are heard by the commission and which by the planning board. But it is not the first time that cases which were to be heard by the Planning Commission were deferred to the higher board. But the postponement is unlikely to change the nega- tive outcome because in June the same Planning Board had unanimously turned down a similar but smaller and less controversial application in Għajnsielem in a far less sensi- tive area. Case officer recommends refusal The ODZ site for the pro- posed solar farm consists of an area mostly characterised by a mix of cultivated agricultural land and abandoned fields and garigue, in an area known as Tar-Ragħad in Mġarr. The case officer's report states clearly that the proposal is in breach of the Solar Farm Policy, which bans solar farms on protected or sensitive lo- cations and within areas of archaeological, cultural or sci- entific interest and limits such developments to disused quar- ries. It also found the project to be in breach of the rural policy and the local plan. The report refers to "errone- ous references" made in a pro- ject development statement presented by the applicant, such as site being located with- in a 'quarry' or, that the pro- posed solar farm is intended to cover the 'existing' greenhous- es and described the proposal as one which is objectionable in principle. The project, proposed by Electrofix Ltd, is owned by Jo- seph Schembri and has caused uproar in Mġarr, attracting over 1,000 objections from the general public. Heritage Malta, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage and the Environment and Resources Authority also objected to the development. Heritage Malta had warned that "the proposed develop- ment may increase the risk of flooding at Ta' Ħaġrat due increased rainwater run off resulting from the extensive soil-cover associated with the proposed greenhouses." Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia has also gone on re- cord saying that the solar farm policy doesn't permit their construction on agricultur- al land when MaltaToday had asked him for his views on this application. Refusal of smaller solar farm in Gozo The Planning Board has al- ready pronounced itself against the approval of similar devel- opments, deeming solar farms in the open countryside to be in breach of policy. An application for the instal- lation of three massive green- houses partly covered by pho- tovoltaic panels in the limits of Għajnsielem was rejected in June. The application was also rec- ommended for refusal by the case officer due to its negative visual impact on the landscape, and for being in breach of the Solar Farm Policy. According to planning rules, any PV installation with a foot- print larger than 1,000sq.m on ODZ land is regulated by the provisions of the 2017 solar farm policy, which only allows such installations on former quarry sites and excludes such development in the open coun- tryside. The proposal covered 9,971sq.m of land outside the development zone along Triq Mġarr in an area known as Ta' Lelluxa. An appeal is still pend- ing against this refusal. In contrast to this refus- al, back in 2015 the Planning Board had approved green- houses with overlying solar panels on 11,000sq.m at Fiddi- en in Rabat. Set for refusal, decision on massive Mgarr solar farm postponed Decision postponed after PA's planning commissioner requests solar farm application to be decided by Planning Authority board The solar farm was proposed on an area the size of six football grounds on agricultural land in Mgarr