Transport Malta vetoes Gaffarena warehouses plan

Transport Malta has vetoed a proposal by Mark Gaffarena to construct 33 warehouses in the Tal-Madonna Tad-Dawl area in Kirkop because according to government policy the area is to be retained for aviation-related development.

Though unlikely, the project may still be approved.

“This area should be safeguarded against incompatible proposals,” Transport Malta’s chief officer, David Sutton, wrote in an objection presented to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority last week.

In March, the MEPA exempted Gaffarena from having to conduct an environment impact assessment on the development of the 33 warehouses on 2,887 square metres of ODZ land in Kirkop.

MEPA justified the exemption because a project development statement presented by the developers last month provided sufficient information on the impact of the project.

The project is also deemed not to have any significant environmental effect. The exemption states, however, that the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage should be asked to monitor any works on the site due to the possibility of archeological remains.

A shrine known as Tad-Dawl is recorded to have existed within the footprint of the proposed development, but officials from the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage could not locate it during an inspection carried out recently.

If approved the development will see the site transformed from an abandoned field into a series of garages accommodating medium-sized businesses such as panel beating, car spraying, and printing and other activities.

According to the project development statement submitted by the developers, the concept of this development is primarily to encourage such businesses to go out of village centres dedicated to residential zones. 

The site is considered ideal for such businesses as it is located mid-way between the Valletta port areas and the international airport.

Since the site lies within an aquifer protection zone and a water catchment area, a rainwater reservoir is being proposed.

The developer has also committed himself to seal the whole site with concrete flooring in order to prevent any accidental spillages reaching the aquifer. 

The proposed development is to include a total of 33 industrial garages at basement and ground level. According to the PDS, the development will “complement the surroundings, especially the airport’s runway, which is considered to be close to the site”.

The 33 garages will be occupying a total space of around 5,500 square metres on two levels. 

In August 2004, MEPA refused an application presented by Gaffarena to build 13 warehouses in the same area. 

In 2006 MEPA also refused an application by Gaffarena to demolish and rebuild a number of dilapidated rooms on the same footprint. Subsequently Gaffarena applied to construct a batching plant but the Planning Directorate withdrew this application.

The land in question, which lies on the ground water protection zone, was occupied by a farmer till 2012 and is classified as an agricultural zone in the local plan.

A number of quarries and batching plants are present in the surroundings. Part of the site lies within a listed buffer zone due to the discovery of Roman remains, consisting of a cistern, in the vicinity. 

In 2004 the development was deemed to be in breach of the Structure Plan, which does not permit urban development outside existing and committed built-up areas.

“It is apparent that there are no reasons from a planning point of view why the proposed development cannot be located in an area designated for industrial development”, the case officer recommending a refusal of the development said.

The proposal was also deemed to result in an unacceptable impact on the road network in the area.

Mark Gaffarena is a shareholder in the ‘J Gaff’ petrol station in Qormi, which was recently given a three-year clearance to open again after it was sealed by MEPA in 2009. Proprietor Johann Gaffarena has recently applied to sanction illegalities on the site and an additional 31 square metre food and beverage outlet and six new car washes on the same site.

Gaffarena is a shareholder in International Tobacco (Malta) Limited together with the government representative on the MEPA board, Joe Sammut.

The decision to grant this temporary permit  for the petrol station was not taken by the MEPA board, on which Sammut sits, but by a subsidiary board. But the Labour MP was unexpectedly cagey when MaltaToday tried to solicit a comment on his business relationship with Marco Gaffarena, describing it as a “a professional secret”.