12
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 FEBRUARY 2026
NEWS
JAMES
DEBONO
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
ODZ relocation
proposed for Ta'
Xbiex petrol station
A planning application seeking
the relocation of a fuel station
from Testaferrata Street in Ta'
Xbiex to undeveloped land be-
tween Attard and Żebbuġ has
been submitted.
The application (PA 961/26)
proposes the relocation to a
1,000sq.m site along Mdina
Road between Attard and Żeb-
buġ, in an area known as Ta'
San Martin.
The proposal, submitted by
Charles Mifsud, includes a
petrol station with a car wash,
workshop, small retail outlet
and staff facilities.
A similar application had
been filed on the same site in
2018, when the proposed devel-
opment covered a larger area of
around 3,000sq.m. That appli-
cation was submitted under a
more permissive policy regu-
lating fuel stations in Outside
Development Zones (ODZ).
The policy was replaced by a
more restrictive framework in
2020.
At the time, the Environment
and Resources Authority (ERA)
had objected to the proposal,
citing the take-up of rural and
undeveloped land for urban
and commercial uses. The au-
thority warned that such de-
velopment would contribute to
the further deterioration of the
surrounding landscape.
Although the land is not cur-
rently tilled, it is classified as
"agricultural" on the Planning
Authority's public informa-
tion system. In contrast, the
application describes the site
as "vacant", while the submit-
ted plans refer to it as "barren
land".
Current policy regulating the
relocation of urban petrol sta-
tions to ODZ sites limits such
developments to plots of no
more than 1,000sq.m. It also
explicitly prohibits petrol sta-
tions on land identified as ag-
ricultural by the Agricultural
Advisory Committee (AAC),
which advises the Planning Au-
thority on rural development
applications.
Relocations are only consid-
ered on sites that are already
legitimately committed to
non-agricultural uses
