Maghtab petrol station owners get villas permit

A strip of land in Maghtab once earmarked for a massive 3,000sq.m petrol station has been approved for the reconstruction of two farmhouses by the Planning Authority.

Abel Energy’s appeal against the refusal of its fuel station remains pending, but the PA still approved a permit for the farmhouses’ reconstruction. The appeal will be decided on the basis of the discarded 2015 fuel station policy.

Additionally, the developers’ latest permit now remains valid for five years – a fall-back should the original refusal be upheld.

The PA’s case officer assessing the application recognised that the appeal was in conflict with the request to reconstruct the two pre-1967 farmhouses that were demolished right after the petrol station was approved in 2018, before being revoked by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.

Both farmhouses will have a basement level and a pool area, with a raised rubble wall on Triq is-Salina.

The site is located outside the development zone, on a triangular-shaped site bound by Triq is-Salina and Trejqet l-Arznu, limits of Naxxar.

The area is characterised by agricultural land and sparse ODZ buildings.

The proposed redevelopment of the farmhouses is in line with the PA’s rural policy thas allows the reconstruction of old farmhouses and their transformation into fully fledged dwellings.

There was no objection from the Environment and Resources Authority.

Planning saga

In 2016, the PA board refused the permit for a petrol station by six votes to three for being in breach of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED).

But the EPRT overturned the refusal, arguing that the board failed to explain why SPED policies protecting the rural environment should take precedence over the fuel stations policy, which allow urban pumps to be relocated to ODZ and rural areas.

That permit was brought back to the board in December 2017, with board members first indicating they would be refusing it, only to then vote in favour in January 2018.

But in April 2019 the permit was revoked again by the EPRT for procedural reasons brought up in an appeal presented by residents, namely the PA’s failure to upload documents before the decision was taken. The case was taken back to the Planning board which rejected the application in July. The reason was the coming into force of a strategic plan for Maghtab, approved in 2018, making it clear that the controversial fuel station policy does not apply to this area.

But in an appeal, the developers contend that since the permit was only revoked because of the PA’s shortcomings, the PA cannot now invoke a policy which came into place after the permit was issued to turn it down, describing this action as a “violation of the rights and legitimate expectations of the applicant”.