Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/791658
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 8 JAMES DEBONO A new 3,000 sq.m petrol station along Triq Hal Qormi – the hill leading from Qormi to Luqa adjacent to the Water Services Corporation – is being justified as a way "to address the shortage of modern fuel stations" in this part of Malta and cater for the demand of fuel "due to the ever increasing number of vehicles on the roads". But already three fuel stations exist in the radius of 1.2km in the vicinity of the proposed fuel sta- tion, a project development state- ment by the developer's environ- mental consultants admits. The new petrol station is being proposed by Raymond Brincat, and will include a service sta- tion, a small shop, a tyre service Garage, VRT Garage, ATM, car wash facilities and PV panels at roof level. The project will result in the excavation of 1,500 cubic metres of soil outside develop- ment zones. Further downhill from the site is the J. Gaff Service Station of Qormi, the G Darmanin Service Station on Valletta Road, Luqa, and the F&A Magro Service Sta- tion found at Airport Road, Luqa. Only the J. Gaff Service Station has facilities similar to the one being proposed. The proposed development site is at present mainly made up of a couple of adjacent fields, which are currently abandoned, and a small agricultural room, which is dilapidated, and without a ceiling. The report claims that the visual impact on the surrounding land- scape should be limited because tall trees in adjacent fields could easily obscure the development from various points. "The use of earth colours should further at- tenuate any remaining impacts," the PDS states. The Environment and Re- sources Authority is objecting to the new development because it encroaches beyond the develop- ment zone boundary onto a rural area. The ERA is insisting that there is no valid justification for the further loss of undeveloped rural land and associated environmen- tal impacts to accommodate such commercial use. "There is also significant concern regarding the cumulative environmental impact caused by the numerous ad hoc proposals for petrol sta- tions currently being proposed on ODZ land." In 2014 the Planning Authority approved a policy that allows the relocation of existing petrol sta- tions onto land outside develop- ment zones and for the construc- tion of brand new petrol stations in ODZ areas if they are opposite or adjacent to industrial areas. The sale of petrol pump licenses for their relocation from towns to ODZ areas is big business, since the new petrol pumps are accord- ed wider floor space to accommo- date larger facilities. News Traffic diversion for closing Church Street, Paceville on Tuesday 28 th February and Wednesday 1 st March 2017 • Works in Church Street Paceville are to be carried out between 7:00am and 8:00pm. Traffic will be allowed to pass in the remaining hours. • Public Transport Officers and Wardens will assist the traffic • Drivers are kindly asked to follow the temporary traffic signs. • Shuttle service is being provided to cover all bus stops for routes 14 and 120. • Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area in these days • For further information you are kindly requested to call on 22981221 • We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Fuel station business thrives as owners seek larger areas No approvals yet from PA for ambitious agritourism projects Making our roads… great again! Despite three petrol stations within 1.2km radius, 'lack of modern station' being invoked to justify new Qormi Hill pump JURGEN BALZAN IF there is one thing that transcends the great political divide in Malta it must be pot- holes and the pitiful state of our roads. Pothole-fury seems to have the unique po- tential to unite peo- ple of all hues because they cause incalculable damage to the thou- sands of cars which choke the roads (and are the cause of a few backaches) on a daily basis. Many have by now given up on reporting potholes as nothing ev- er gets done, and when roads do get patched, the first rainfall undoes all the good intentions. But not all hope is lost. A new app which is available as of today will allow you to snap a photo of a pothole, and send it together with the location and if need be a comment (prefer- ably free of expletives) to the local council re- sponsible for the road. The app, called Ir- Rahal Taghna (Our Vil- lage), not only empow- ers motorists to report potholes but users can also report waste, graf- fiti and anything else which the local council could deal with. Every local council will have its own ac- count, which will allow council staff to access and deal with the re- ports submitted by us- ers. While councils can update users about the outcome of their re- ports they will also be able to add more cat- egories i.e. problems with properties, prob- lems in parks, badly parked cars etc. The app is available to download from Google Play and will be avail- able on iTunes in two weeks' time. JAMES DEBONO YET another agritourism project has been proposed, this time at Zeb- biegh, just off Triq Sir Temi Zam- mit, Triq Ghajn Tuffieha and Trejqa Qanfud in the vicinity of the Imselli- et valley and the San Anton School. Set over 142,407 square metres, the agritourism will include 400 sq.m of accommodation facilities, a 200 sq.m winery located at a corner between Triq Ghajn Tuffieha and Trejqa Qanfud, a 50 sq.m olive pro- duction facility and a 25 sq.m bee keeping facility. In total this would involve new development of over 675 sq.m. Glorianne Camilleri presented the Mgarr application on behalf of VEMG Ltd, a company owned by Windsor Development Limited, which also owns the Park Hotel in Sliema. The developers are also proposing seven more tumuli of olive groves around the accommodation facili- ties, over and above the existing six tumuli. Five tumuli of vineyards will be added to the existing 15 tumuli around the proposed winery. The site includes the buffer zone to the Ghajn Rihana, an Area of Ecological Importance, but the new buildings are not being proposed there. 50 bee colonies will be devel- oped on the garigue area which will not be touched by new buildings. Through the rural development policy guidelines approved in 2014 owners of agricultural land are al- lowed to construct up to 10 rooms over 400 square metres of floor space. Such a development may only take place on sites occupying 60 tu- muli (67,000 square metres). So far there have been five appli- cations, two in Gozo and three in Malta, none of which has been ap- proved yet. The approved policy states that any proposed building "shall ac- commodate seven to 10 guest rooms