Burmarrad: ‘Public garden’ proposed on top of petrol station

A public garden is being proposed on top of the JT petrol station in Burmarrad, one of the beneficiaries of a now-scrapped policy allowing 3,000sq.m fuel stations outside development zones.

The application, presented by the owner of the petrol station, proposes an additional tyre shop under the proposed garden, reservoir, and an additional seven parking spaces in existing landscaped areas.

Artistic impressions presented with the application depict a sizeable garden with 50 olive trees, 50 cypress trees, 25 bay laurel trees and a gazebo. No commercial development is being proposed in the garden level in this application, the fifth to be presented by the petrol station owner.

But the Environment and Resources Authority shot down the latest plans to add a new level on top of the petrol station, describing this as “a piecemeal approach to the over intensification of development on this particular site”.

ERA expressed its concern on the addition of new structures, saying the proposal was unacceptable from an environmental point of view.

The design advisory committee, a panel which advises the Planning Authority on design issues, was also appalled by the application, expressing concern about the visual impact of the proposal. “No further additions to the already approved structures should be permitted, so as to limit the already incongruous structure,” the panel concluded.

The petrol station, one of four beneficiaries of the discarded policy regulating ODZ fuel stations, was approved in 2017 despite objections by Environment and Resources Authority and the PA’s agriculture advisory committee. A year later the Planning Authority also approved a 58sq.m snack bar – where no cooking is allowed – on land originally allocated for a car accessories shop. Subsequently the owners were granted a change-of-use permit to allow cooking on site. In 2020 the owners applied for a 200sq.m catering establishment build over two levels and the extension of their car accessory shop into the area occupied by the approved catering establishment. But this application was withdrawn in 2021.