Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/620988
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 DECEMBER 2015 7 JAMES DEBONO SEVEN petrol stations were taken over by new owners between Au- gust 2013 and November 2015. Petrol station licences can only be transferred to companies which already have a licence to operate a fuel station. No new licences were issued in the past two years. Information provided by the Regulator for Energy and Wa- ter services shows that 2014 has seen the largest number of licence transfers since 2010, when a record five licences changed hands. 2014 coincided with the public consultation on a new policy, sub- sequently approved this year, reg- ulating the development of petrol stations in ODZ areas. In submissions presented to MEPA last year the Malta Devel- opers Association had warned that a new policy allowing exist- ing stations in urban areas to re- locate to ODZ locations where they could expand to 3,000 square metres, risked raising the "artifi- cial value" of existing fuel station licences. The transfers include one, which took place in March 2014 from Edgar Borg & Sons Limited to Lu- qa Developments Limited, a com- pany owned by Ludwig Camilleri, the son of Piu Camilleri, a close aide to the late former public works minister Lorry Sant. The transfer application is the only one specifying a relocation to a 'new site'. Since then Luqa De- velopments Limited has applied to MEPA for two fuel stations, one in Salini and one in Mdina Road. Cassar Fuel Station Ltd has bought a licence in Lija and Tarx- ien while giving up another one in Ghajnsielem. In February 2014 Brighton Ga- rage sold a licence for a petrol sta- tion in Floriana to Seaview and Sons Limited, the same company that owns the Pitstop petrol sta- tion in Attard. News Seven petrol stations changed hands since 2013 Number of licences transferred since 2010 2010 5 2011 2 2012 1 2013 1 2014 4 2015 2 From winery to Kiabi discount store in Burmarrad JAMES DEBONO THE French low cost textiles chain Kiabi will be opening shop in Bur- marrad on the site of a former win- ery situated in outside development boundaries in Burmarrad. Kiabi was founded in Lille in 1978 on the basis of a simple concept: "To produce fashion to suit all tastes and budgets." The brand has 451 outlets in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Morocco. A Kiabi outlet already operates at Qormi next to Lidl. Hudson International represents the French chain in Malta. The company represents global brands in Africa, Italy and Malta. MEPA issued the permit for an un- specified retail outlet on the site of the former farmers winery in June. The controversial development permit issued for a commercial de- velopment in an outside develop- ment zone in Burmarrad was only possible after the involvement of the Land Department. The site could only be used for ag- ricultural activities until 2063, as it was public land given to the Farm- er's Wine Co-operative in 1965 on emphyteusis to be used for wine production. The cooperative sold the em- phytheusis for €815,000 in 2008 to BCBT Properties, a company in which Burmarrad Commercials is a main shareholder. The condition on its use was lifted after the change in government. The winery will be replaced by a retail centre having the same foot- print, but which will be 1.4 metres higher. The development proposed by Ol- iver Brownrigg, who owns BT Com- mercial Limited, is set to include a 1,035 square metre retail area, 900 square metres of offices, storage fa- cilities and a large surface car park for 102 cars on a paved area next to the building. In June three MEPA board mem- bers, including Environment Plan- ning Commission board chairman Elisabeth Ellul, voted in favour while biologist Charles Grech voted against. The case officer report recom- mended approval of the new devel- opment, overruling the objections made by the authority's Environ- ment Protection Directorate. While the Planning Directorate considered the development as "aes- thetically acceptable" and an "envi- ronmental improvement" over the present situation, the Environment Protection Directorate was firmly opposed. The EPD considered the develop- ment unacceptable, as it would re- sult in "new urban activities" in the countryside and in "further urban sprawl" and "excessive formalisa- tion" in an area, which is located outside development zones. The EPD also expressed concern on the "substantial increase in hard surfac- ing" required for the proposed car park. In their submissions to MEPA the developer's architects claimed that "the surrounding grounds have been left to deteriorate and that the site today constitutes a major eyesore in the Burmarrad area". It was the approval of the new rural policy in 2014, which spurred the developers to embark on a project to re-develop the area, which they claimed had a "positive impact" on the environ- ment. The new policy allows the demo- lition of existing agricultural build- ings in the ODZ to be rebuilt and re- developed. Previously, agricultural ODZ buildings such as wineries could not be redeveloped for other purposes. According to the developers, through the provision of adequate onsite parking, the new retail de- velopment will serve as a "regional magnet", attracting customers from adjacent towns and relieving pres- sure from town centres. An application to set up a six- metre high pylon Kiabi sign in the new car park and a large sign on the façade of the former winery was submitted last week, thus reinforc- ing the urbanisation of this formerly rural hamlet. Low cost clothes chain to replace winery lying in an outside development zone in Burmarrad The winery is to be replaced by a French low-cost retail centre