Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1446843
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JANUARY 2022 10 Yet-to-be-built villa outside development zones near Dingli's medieval chapel seeking additional storey and pool permit Villa to grow on Dingli's controversial new road JAMES DEBONO A real estate company wants to add a pool, paving and a receded floor atop a Dingli villa outside development zones, originally turned down by the Planning Authority. The project was eventually ap- proved by the appeals tribunal in 2018. The proposed villa is at the intersection between Sqaq il- Mużew and a new road contro- versially developed last year by Infrastructure Malta without any planning permit, despite week-long protests by Movi- ment Graffitti and residents. IM had argued that the road did required no permit because it had been included in local plans after being schemed in the 1960s, and that the road would connect two alleyways and al- low access for fire engines. The two-storey villa, belong- ing to Victor Bonavia, was ap- proved just outside the develop- ment zone boundary at the edge of Sqaq il-Mużew in 2018. The site currently consists of agri- CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Significantly the document re- fers to the production of hydro- gen, in an indication that Malta is exploring the local production of this energy sector, instead of relying exclusively on the hy- drogen-ready pipeline linking it to Sicily. The technology for the production of green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels for energy, is still in its infancy but may grow in the next decades. In 2021 the government enact- ed legislation for the legal frame- work for economic activities in an Exclusive Economic Zone outside the country's territorial waters. In June Finance Minister Clyde Caruana declared that this zone had the potential of extending the country's responsibilities over 71,446 square kilometres, bringing with it "huge economic potential". The procedure for awarding concessions in the two areas identified for offshore economic activities, has now been spelt out in a document recently issued to industry stakeholders by the finance ministry, in a pitch to "internationally recognised com- panies" interested in undertaking "activities and projects" in the two selected areas. The concessions will be award- ed through a three-stage proce- dure: starting with a pre-qualifi- cation questionnaire, followed by a shortlisting of companies who would be invited to participate in a next stage of dialogue meetings with each shortlisted company. The final stage will consist of a tender in which the shortlisted companies will be asked to sub- mit a final offer. The company with the best offer will enter in- to a concession agreement for a number of years with the govern- ment. Activities carried out in the EEZ will still require a develop- ment permit from the Planning Authority in Malta and an envi- ronmental permit from the Envi- ronment Resources Authority in Malta. But these projects will be fast- tracked, with the ministry's doc- ument anticipating that planning and environmental permits will be issued within three months from the submission of all the re- quired documents, including en- vironmental impact assessments. The document suggests that the area around Hurd's Bank, characterized by its relatively shallow waters, is the one with the greatest potential. In fact the area of interest adja- cent to Hurd's Bank has a depth ranging from 50m to 100m, with an area of 900sq.km identified as a separate EEZ Area. But proposals will also be con- sidered within a greater 6,500sq. km belt around Malta's territori- al waters in which depths range from 100m to 1,000 m. The government said it will en- sure freedom of navigation and overflight rights on areas granted as concessions to private com- panies. But installations in Mal- ta's EEZ will have the right to establish "a safety zone" to safe- guard their own safety as well as the safety of navigation around them. In September 2021 the Plan- ning Authority started assessing an application for a project over 7,500 sq,m of seabed, 19 km (10 nautical miles) south of Deli- mara. But the project is located at the edge of Malta's territorial waters and not part of the pro- posed EEZ, and its details are still missing because the application has not yet been fully submitted. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 7,600sq.m of seabed identified for offshore concessions NEWS Projects will be fast-tracked, with planning and environmental permits issued within three months from submission of all documents, including environmental impact assessments