Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507552
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS NEWS ERA set to object to St Albert's ODZ application PA shoots down attempt to greenwash petrol station extension Development will gobble 28,000 sq.m of agricultural land JAMES DEBONO THE relocation of the St Albert College from Valletta to ODZ farmland in Ghax- aq is objectionable from an environmental point view, a memo drafted by experts in the Environment and Resources Authori- ty, states. The memo - which is meant to guide the ERA board which will be discussing the project on Friday - also warns that the introduction of such a large-scale devel- opment, would also lead to subsequent future development commitments in the surrounding area, leading to additional ur- ban sprawl. The final decision on the proposed de- velopment has to be taken by the Planning Authority's board where ERA has a repre- sentative. According to an Environment Impact Assessment presented in January the pro- ject on ODZ land designated for school development in the local plans approved in 2006 will result in the loss of more than 28,000sq.m of agricultural land. The project will cover an area that is equivalent to four full size football pitches but 7,725sq.m of agricultural land will be retained within the school grounds. The EIA says the project will have a ma- jor visual impact on Għaxaq, introducing urban development to a currently unde- veloped site with a strong rural character and sense of openness when viewed from Dawret Ħal Għaxaq. "The scheme as a whole significantly changes the existing organic context of the urban and rural interface creating a 'hard- ness' to the urban edge changing an essen- tially rural view to one being more urban in nature," the EIA says. Major negative impacts of the project include the change in the landscape when the new school is viewed from Triq il- Ħareb and Dawret Ħal-Għaxaq. A mod- erate to major impact is also identified in respect of the change to the long-distance view of Ghaxaq from Delimara. The project will also have negative con- sequences for ground water recharge, as it will result in the 'soil sealing' of a consid- erable area. According to the EIA, the land that will be lost is considered to be of low agricultural value; even if "there is the potential for the productivity of the land to be improved through improved irrigation". Moreover, considering the amount of land which will be lost, and its productivity potential, the impact on agriculture is considered to be of "major significance". Although the new development will be low-lying, due to "the loss of the mature vegetation, as well as rubble walls and rural structures" the ur- ban edge will become more pronounced and "the transition to the rural area" will become "less pleasant than it is currently". Of the 58 protected trees found on the site of the new school, only 12 (21%) will be re- tained. Overall the project will result in the loss of 85 trees, 46 of which are protected. These include the row of Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) along the northern bounda- ry of the Scheme site, on the interface with Dawret Ħal-Għaxaq. The impact will be somewhat mitigated by the compensatory planting of 720 trees and the implementa- tion of a landscaping scheme. Alien spe- cies will also be removed from the site. Plans for larger school had been shelved Plans for an even larger school to also ac- commodate a school run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart over 72,000sq.m were withdrawn in 2019. The land was designated for the develop- ment of a school in local plans approved in 2006. But the project came back to haunt the Church hierarchy during the Żonqor controversy, when former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat rebutted criticism by Arch- bishop Charles Scicluna on the proposed development of a private university on a 90,000sq.m site at Żonqor Point, by refer- ring to the Għaxaq school plans. The Dominicans want the Għaxaq col- lege to be a spacious alternative to Val- letta's St Albert College, which is over 70 years old and lacks sufficient space for lec- ture rooms, laboratories and facilities for sports and extra-curricular activities. The area would also be more accessible to fam- ilies in the southern part of the island. The Dominicans say they carried out a "pains- taking selection exercise" with the assis- tance of the Planning Authority's planning directorate to identify the area, eventually designated in the South Malta Local Plan for the specific purpose of co‐educational schools. ERA experts warned that the introduction of such a large-scale development as the proposed St Albert College project would lead to subsequent future development commitments in the surrounding area JAMES DEBONO A ruse by the owners of an ODZ pertrol station in Burmarrad to get an extension by proposing new facilities underneath a pro- posed "public garden" has failed. The application, presented by the owner of the petrol sta- tion, proposed a 127 sq.m tyre shop under , a 100 sq.m waste separation, a reservoir, and an additional eight parking spaces underneath the proposed public garden. But last week the Planning Commission refused the pro- posed extension after the case of- ficer concluded that the proposed development was in breach of the of the policy regulating ODZ pet- rol stations and of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Devel- opment (SPED. Artistic impressions presented with the application depict a size- able garden with 50 olive trees, 50 cypress trees, 25 bay laurel trees and a gazebo. The Environment and Resourc- es Authority had already shot down the latest plans to add a new level on top of the petrol sta- tion, describing this as "a piece- meal approach to the over inten- sification of development on this particular site". The design advisory committee, a panel which advises the Plan- ning Authority on design issues, was also appalled by the applica- tion, expressing concern about the visual impact of the proposal. "No further additions to the al- ready approved structures should be permitted, so as to limit the already incongruous structure," the panel concluded. The 3000 sq.m petrol station, one of four beneficiaries of the discarded policy regulating ODZ fuel stations, was approved in 2017 despite objections by Envi- ronment and Resources Author- ity and the PA's agriculture advi- sory committee. A year later the Planning Au- thority also approved a 58sq.m snack bar – where no cooking is allowed – on land originally allo- cated for a car accessories shop. Subsequently the owners were granted a change-of-use permit to allow cooking on site. In 2020 the owners applied for a 200sq.m catering establishment build over two levels and the extension of their car accessory shop into the area occupied by the approved catering establishment. But this application was withdrawn in 2021.