Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536039
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 JUNE 2025 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Montekristo Estate is owned by the Polidano Group of con- struction magnate Charles Pol- idano. The application is limit- ed to the family park, cover- ing an area of approximate- ly 45,379sq.m, and does not include the winery, bottling plant, and vineyard area, which spans 118,647sq.m and is the subject of a separate sanction- ing application presented in 2009. A Project Description State- ment submitted by Polidano's consultants, ADI Limited, ac- knowledged the loss of agricul- tural land to make way for the illegal family park and zoo area. In their report, ADI—an envi- ronmental consultancy—called on their client to compensate for the extensive take-up of agricultural land by "convert- ing disturbed land in his own- ership within or adjacent to the Montekristo Estate, or by proxy elsewhere on the island, to agriculture." The consultan- cy also recognised that the de- velopment contributed to the urbanisation and formalisation of what was previously a rural landscape. In its own screening report, the ERA does not address the legality of the development and does not propose any mitiga- tion for the loss of agricultural land. It merely documents the historical development of the site, starting from 1998, when the area was entirely agricul- tural. According to the report, the most intensive phase of devel- opment occurred between 2008 and 2012, during which fields to the south-west and south- east of the bottling plant com- plex were cleared and pathways created. The car park, the out- door and indoor equestrian arenas, and the southern end of the animal park were complet- ed by 2012. The animal park was later extended northwards, taking up more fields by 2016. Moreover, between 2016 and 2018, further clearance and hard surfacing took place in ar- eas south of the bottling plant complex. The animal park has no plan- ning permit. The only permit ever issued, back in 2005, was for demolishing a pig farm and building a winery with a nearby vineyard. A later extension was also approved. The ERA concluded that the project does not warrant a full EIA, stating that, in line with Regulation 15 of the EIA Reg- ulations, the potential environ- mental impacts of the proposal are not considered significant enough to require a detailed assessment. Regulation 15 gov- erns the screening process to determine whether a proposed project's effects merit a full EIA. Although no EIA is being re- quested, the ERA is requiring the submission and implemen- tation of a landscaping plan, including the installation of "movable planters in the car park area", and a method state- ment for the removal of inva- sive alien species across the en- tire estate. The landscaping plan must be submitted and approved by ERA prior to any replacement planting. It should also include operational management prac- tices for collecting rainwater and surface water to avoid run- off into Wied Sillani, as well as the use of permeable materials to allow water to percolate into the water table before any re- surfacing works begin. ERA is also requesting a light- ing plan for the entire estate, including mitigation measures to reduce light pollution. This plan should also account for any external temporary light- ing fixtures. Malta's environmental watchdog has ruled out a full environmental assessment for the controversial Montekristo Estate, despite its history of unpermitted construction and the loss of agricultural land ER A greenlights Montekristo Estate sanctioning without impact studies