Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/310131
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 MAY 2014 3 News Emergency conservation order issued for Ta' Hagrat temples THE Malta Environment and Plan- ning Authority (MEPA) has tempo- rarily extended the Class A schedule boundary protecting the Ta' Hagrat Neolithic Temples in Mgarr, through an Emergency Conservation Order (ECO). The action is the highest level of protection an archaeological site can be granted and follows an order by the Cabinet to issue the conserva- tion order to protect the UNESCO World Heritage temples. The ECO, which covers an extend- ed area of land in the vicinity of the temples, also includes the parcel of land which government intends to expropriate from a private developer who was granted MEPA permission for a two-storey construction. The permit – first opposed but later not objected to by the Superintend- ence for Cultural Heritage – became the source of anger for environmen- tal NGOs, pushing the Opposition into filing a motion calling for the land's expropriation. MEPA issued the emergency con- servation order after it was asked by the government to consider using this planning mechanism to protect the temples from any nearby devel- opment. The order has a validity period of six months, and allows further stud- ies to be carried out before this area can be classified as a Class A sched- uled area. During this six-month pe- riod no development may proceed on any site within the boundary. The Ta' Hagrat and Skorba Tem- ples in Mgarr were granted a Class A scheduling by MEPA in October 1998. The MEPA permit had been based on a u-turn by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, which lifted its objections to the development, some time after the March 2013 elections. The original application had been recommended for refusal at MEPA in 2008. Last September, MEPA approved an application 'to remove existing structure and construct dwelling' in Triq San Pietru, Mgarr. A number of residents objected to the construc- tion of two-storey residences. On 6 September 2013, MEPA approved an application to erect semi-basement garages 15 apart- ments and 1 penthouse in Triq San Pietru, Mgarr. Residents objected to the construction of two-storey resi- dences. The controversial approval by MEPA of the 96-square-metre dwell- ing was 10 metres away from the Ta' Hagrat temples, and had the blessing of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. But the same body had ini- tially objected to the development in March. The Superintendence not only ob- jected to the construction due to its proximity to the World Heritage Site Ta' Hagrat, but went as far as calling on MEPA to revise development boundaries to safeguard the site. In a strongly worded objection issued on 8 March, the Superintendence objected to the "intensive develop- ment a few metres away from the Ta' Hagrat World Heritage Site and well within the buffer zone of the monu- ment". UNESCO had communicated the outline of the buffer zone to the Superintendence in 2011. "This ur- banisation should not be allowed to spread, and if necessary, a review of existing development boundaries in the area should be carried out in view of the UNESCO buffer zone," the Superintendence argued. But after a meeting with Heritage Malta and MEPA held in May, the Superintendence of Cultural Herit- age issued its clearance for the de- velopment, after plans were changed to address some of its concerns. In its letter, the Superintendence still noted that the development will take place in an archeologically sensitive area "located 10 metres away from the Ta' Hagrat temples". The Superintendence justified its clearance for the development, cit- ing new plans presented by the de- veloper limiting construction to the development zone, and the removal of the originally proposed swimming pool and driveway. It also noted that no rock cutting was to take place on the sensitive site. The case officer report still called on the Environment Planning Com- mission to refuse this development, since part encroached on an Outside Development Zone.