Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/625693
6 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The news that the Curia decreed that Angelik Caruana's visions at Borg in-Nadur were 'not divine' did not come as a surprise for many people in Birzebbugia. MaltaToday spoke to some residents, who said they always suspected the apparitions to be a fraud, while neighbours said they were convinced that the divine apparitions were nothing but a scam. If this was truly a scam, it must have been quite complex. As one neighbour described it, "there is a chance that someone was mak- ing money out of it. There's no business like Church business." "It's about time that the church decides that none of this is real. We all knew that it wasn't," an- other neighbour told us after observing our futile attempts to reach Angelik at his house in Birzebbugia. Many people in Birzebbugia spoke about Angelik, but the great majority were uncomfort- able saying it on camera. At a local band club, the men at the bar told us he was "a very quiet and mysterious man" who "did not speak much ". In fact, two old men, who proudly told us that normally they get to know everything about their neighbours, said they had no idea whether Ange- lik has a job or not. Caruana works at a residential home for the elderly in Floriana. Even there, attempts to reach him hit a stone wall. A colleague of his said Angelik was on leave. While waiting for the man outside his home, hoping that he might light a cigarette in his little balcony, we observed a hut-like structure. A neigh- bour speculated that that was a 'shrine' he built some months ago. "He knew the church was investigating the case, and so he built this space for followers to pray at." A man took us on the site where Angelik says he was visited by the Virgin Mary – a place ironi- cally called 'Gebel ix-Xitan', (the Devil 's Rocks). His neighbours recall seeing 'hundreds of people' marching down the quiet roads of Birzeb- bugia, and old people carrying stools or folding chairs, heading towards Borg in-Nadur. Some f locked in front of Angelik 's own house to see the statue of the Virgin Mary shedding tears of blood and oil. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 JANuArY 2016 News NOTICE by the Electoral Commission BOARD TAL-WARRANT TAL-PERITI The Secretary to the Board notifies that nominations for the election of one member to the Board tal-Warrant tal-Periti shall be received on Monday 18th, Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th January, 2016, between 10:00 am and noon at the Electoral Office in Valletta and Victoria, Gozo. Nomination papers may be obtained from the Electoral Office, from Project House, Floriana and from the office of the Chamber of Architects. The election shall be held on Friday 29th January, 2016. Full details, nomination papers and regulations have been posted to all eligible warrant-holding periti. Local plan bans development Maghtab petrol station site JAMES DEbONO THE proposed 3,416 square me- tre petrol station in Maghtab in a triangular plot between Triq is-Salina and Triq l-Arznu near Ta' Alla u Ommu hill, is located in an area designated by the lo- cal plan as a hamlet whose rural character has to be preserved. Development deemed "incom- patible" with the area's designa- tion as "rural settlement" is ruled out by the local plan. Din l-Art Helwa and architect Carmel Cacopardo, who is rep- resenting Maghtab residents, are calling on the Malta Environ- ment and Planning Authority (MEPA) to apply this policy and refuse the fuel station proposal made by Paul Abela of Abel En- ergy, which will be discussed by the MEPA board tomorrow. But the case officer is still rec- ommending the approval of the ODZ petrol station because it is deemed to fulfil the conditions set by the new policy regulating ODZ petrol stations approved last year. Most of the land surrounding the proposed development is farmed land and the petrol sta- tion would replace two existing farmhouses. The designation of the site as a rural settlement can be con- firmed when checking its desig- nation on MEPA's own map-serv- er. The site's designation on the authority's website as "Category 2 rural settlement" is highlighted among the planning designations applying to the site. Moreover a map included in the legally bind- ing local plans designates the ar- ea earmarked for the fuel station as lying within the boundaries of the Category 2 rural settlement. Category 2 settlements are hamlets located outside develop- ment zones, where limited resi- dential or agricultural develop- ment can take place but whose character is protected by legally binding planning policies. But the case officer report fails to assess the application on the basis of this policy, saying simply that according to the Local Plan- ning Unit the policy protecting the rural character of the Maght- ab hamlet is not applicable to the site. It also states that the site "is not considered to form part" of the hamlet. MEPA's Environment Protec- tion Directorate has objected to the development, insisting that the proposal involves extensive hard landscaping and introduces materials and colours which are alien to the rural setting The development on a parcel of land between Triq is-Salina and Triq l-Arznu has the blessing of the Planning Directorate and is being justified on the basis of the Fuel Service Station Policy ap- proved last year. It would include five fuel sta- tion dispensers, a tyre service, a car wash and a shop selling pre-packed food and is being proposed as a relocation of an existing petrol station situated in Constitution Road, Mosta. The development would also in- troduce a ghost island right-turn in Triq is-Salina in order to en- sure that north-bound traffic ac- cesses the site in relative safety. The case officer report over- looked the existence of this pol- icy. In spite of the approval of the Planning Directorate, residents and environmentalists have warned that any such approval would be in breach of a local plan policy, which seeks to protect the "rural character of the area." The aim of the policy is to pre- vent the further development of "incompatible uses" in the area. According to the local plan for central Malta, the areas of Maghtab and Bidnija are desig- nated as Category 2 Rural Settle- ments in Policy CG04, and should be conserved, consolidated and rehabilitated while protecting their rural character. According to this policy the ac- ceptable land uses in these settle- ments are aimed at ensuring that the genuine needs of agriculture are met, the remnants of agricul- tural activity are retained and allowing for rural diversifica- tion. These settlements can also absorb some development, which might be necessary for diversifi- cation of the rural economy but could have an adverse impact if located in the open countryside. Neighbours 'not surprised' by the Curia's Angelik Caruana's holy visions have been debunked by the Catholic Church The development of a 3,500 square metre petrol station has the blessing of the Planning Directorate