Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/327636
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 JUNE 2014 News Piju Camilleri: 'Planning policy is abusive and discriminatory' WITH three quarters of utilised ag- ricultural area less than a hectare, one wonders how Maltese farmers manage to produce an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. Only 1,264 hectares of the 11,689 hectares of Maltese and Gozitan soil are used for plantation – of which 54% is taken up by vineyard cultivation. According to the National Statis- tics Office, the "largest" agricul- tural holdings come at a minimum of five hectares – and only 2.4% of the utilised agricultural area are this big. 75.6% of the agricultural holdings are small, where 9,427 each have an agricultural area of less than a hec- tare. Medium-sized agricultural holdings made up 22% of the total; such holdings comprise between one and five hectares. Arable land accounted for 76.7% of the total utilised agricultural area (UAA), while permanent crops and kitchen gardens made up the remaining 10.8 and 12.5% respec- tively. The cultivation of fodder plants, at 59%, was predominant in the ten- ure of arable land. 1,264 hectares of UAA comprised plantations, of which 54% was dedicated to vineyard cultivation. Fruit and berry plantations, mainly peaches, amounted to 30.5% of to- tal permanent crops, while citrus, olive and nurseries accounted for 7.1, 8.2 and 0.2% respectively. Agricultural holdings in Malta were predominantly run by sole holders (98.6 %). Group holdings and companies accounted for 1.1 and 0.3 % of all holdings respec- tively. Sole holders also acted as farm managers in 96.9 % of all sole- holder agricultural holdings. The agricultural labour force was made up of 19,066 persons, or 5,044 annual work units. Part-time employment amounted to 17,693 persons (92.8%), while 1,372 persons (7.2%) worked on a full-time basis. Males (79.3%) were predominant in the agricultural la- bour force. Of all sole-holder managers, 45.7% reported that they practised a major gainful activity outside of agriculture, while 52.4% stated that they had no other gainful activity. The majority of the latter were either totally engaged in agricul- ture or were pensioners. During the reference period, 84.6% of all sole-holder managers were 45 years of age or older, while the major- ity of sole-holder managers (70.2%) worked less than 25% of one annual work unit. As at 1 September 2013, the to- tal cattle population amounted to 14,949 heads, of which 6,239 (or 41.7%), were dairy cows. The pig population amounted to 51,641 heads, while sheep and goat stocks numbered 9,916 and 4,032 heads re- spectively. A total 0.9 million poul- try heads were registered, of which 67.2 and 32.4 % were broilers and laying hens respectively. CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 MEPA is presently facing a court case instituted by Camilleri who is alleging that the planning policy against penthouse development on his property is "abusive and dis- criminatory". But now it is other property own- ers who are feeling discriminated against due to the change of policy in Ghaxaq. In a written submission, an objec- tor has asked MEPA whether the new height policy applying to this particular parcel of land signifies a change in the policy direction on the building heights on all ration- alisation sites. "In other rationalisation ar- eas MEPA is still insisting that the building height should be similar to existing surrounding buildings, which in this case at Ghaxaq is still two floors," the written objection presented to MEPA states. Insisting that, "what is good for the goose is also good for the gan- der", the objector added that he would retract the objection "if MEPA treats other rationalisation sites similarly". The Ghaxaq land saga The land was controversially in- cluded in development boundaries by a PN government in 2006. The local plan approved in 2006 permits three-storey development and penthouses in this area of Ghaxaq, which is still characterised by two-storey dwellings. But the Cabinet criteria for the 2006 extension of building bounda- ries states that the height limitation in these formerly ODZ plots should not only reflect that of neighbour- ing properties, and should be lower to soften the impact on the develop- ment zone edge. Initially the Planning Directorate applied the local plan policy to al- low three-storey developments plus penthouse level on a number of ra- tionalisation sites, such as the one in Ghaxaq. But in October 2008, minister George Pullicino wrote to MEPA recommending a two-storey limit on these sites insisting that MEPA should adhere to the Cabinet's ra- tionalisation memo. According to the minister's inter- pretation, the building height for all rationalisation sites ought to be similar to or smaller than the pre- dominant height in the area, rather than the maximum height stipulat- ed in the local plans. This policy was adopted by the MEPA board and was applied to all sites included in the rationalisation exercise. In fact, the case officer report states that the direction given by the MEPA board in 2008 was there- after "consistently applied". In fact, in November 2008, MEPA proposed a two-floor limit on devel- opment on the Ghaxaq land parcel. But following protests by the owner, this was revised to three floors, but a clause was introduced to ensure that no penthouses are developed on this site. In this way, the development would still be lower than adjacent buildings, as suggested in the policy direction given by the previous gov- ernment. MEPA has already approved an application presented by Ludwig Camilleri in 2006 and approved three years later, for the construc- tion of 47 basement garages and semi-basement garages, two shops and 48 residential units on the for- merly agricultural area. Although the new height limita- tion policy applying to this land par- cel has still to be approved by MEPA, a screening application for the con- struction of a number of penthouses was presented on 16 April 2014. Camilleri is presently contesting a newly-issued MEPA policy banning ODZ cemeteries due to his interest in building a cemetery on land be- tween Attard and Rabat. EARLIER today, at around 11.30am, part of St Joseph High Street in San- ta Venera had to be closed for traf- fic due to a traffic accident involv- ing four cars. A student driver and a young pedestrian needed medical assistance but neither of them suf- fered serious injuries. This accident happened near what it was Umberto Colosso Trade School when a young girl, probably around 13 years old, was about to cross the street on the zebra cross- ing. A Toyota Starlet, driven by a 20 year old female from Ħaż-Żebbuġ, who is a student driver and was go- ing towards Ħamrun, stopped for the girl to cross. "We stopped for the girl to cross when another car came from the op- posite direction and hit us, pushing us on two other cars behind us", told maltatoday Randolph Calleja, 31 from Iklin, who is the instructor. Gareth Buttigieg, 33 from Ħamrun, who was driving a Toyota Auris to- wards Fleur de Lys, also gave us his version. He told maltatoday that the way the zebra crossing is placed it is hard to see who is crossing. "As soon as came to the crossing, I saw this girl who came out from un- der the aqueduct. To avoid from hit- ting the girl, I swerved to the right and hit the other car", said Buttigieg. He told us that something had to be done as this zebra crossing is very dangerous and you can hardly see somebody coming straight into the street. With the impact the Starlet was pushed back on two cars, a Citreon Berlingo that was parked and a Te- rios who was behind the Starlet. Police from the Traffic Section and those from the RIU closed the street for traffic while an ambulance took the student driver to Mater Dei Hospital for further treatment. On the other hand the young girl was treated in a private clinic. District police, led by Police Ser- geant Edward Grech and PC Michael Cilia, from the Ħamrun Police Sta- tion are investigating the accident. With a minimum of five hectares each, 302 agricultural holdings in Malta and Gozo are considered 'large' 76% of agricultural holdings are less than a hectare Four car crash in Santa Venera Twistees for twerking Miley CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The news – first appearing on Facebook and enthusiastically reported by local media outlets Times Online and Malta Right Now – originated from Kirsty and Roxanne Bartolo, the sib- ling 'culprits' in question who threw the nationalistic talisman to the pop star and bragged about it on Facebook, posting a mobile-camera video as proof of their unwitting act of cross-cultural pro- motion. But I'm being a bad jour- nalist here, and 'burying the lede' as they say in my trade. For while the the Maltese flag – or any flag, for that matter – carries instant weight and importance as an economical visual representation of any country; more interestingly still, it just so happens that the Bartolo siblings also threw a packet of Twistees at the twerk-inten- sive singer, who also waved the cheesy snack on stage for all and sundry to witness. A generous part of me wants to be- lieve that this was all a sneaky, fiend- ishly intelligent bit of covert market- ing on the part of the Malta Tourism Authority, but somehow, I doubt it. Daughter of famed American country rock singer Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus rose to fame after starring in the Disney channel televi- sion show Hannah Mon- tana, before embarking on a solo musical career. Clearly eager to leave her child-friendly image be- hind her, Cyrus became a viral sensation follow- ing her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last summer, where her on- stage grinding (or 'twerking') with fel- low singer Robin Thicke gave rise to a storm of controversy. child-friendly image be- hind her, Cyrus became