Updated | Planning Authority turns down Durumblat development

The Planning Authority has decided to refuse the application for the intensive development on agricultural land in Mosta.

The development proposed a three-floor building with a semi-basement with a building height of 17.5 metres above street level, over a footprint of 38,600 square metres on the land adjoining the Cumbo Tower, along Durumblat road.

The land in question used to be located outside development zones, but is now legally developable by virtue of the controversial 2006 rationalisation scheme.

Alternattiva Demokratika applauded the decision, calling it “an indication that hopefully common sense is not completely absent in land use planning.”

Carmel Cacopardo, the party’s deputy chairperson, added that the decision, however, was not “the end of the story.” The 2006 government decision resulted in around two million square metres of land on the periphery of towns and villages being given up for development, he said.

“It is essential that before this application is further considered or reconsidered, as will inevitably happen, that the social, economic and the environmental impacts of this proposed massive development is adequately considered.”

Cacopardo supported his argument by pointing to a 2011 census that had identified that, out of 8,359 residential units in Mosta, 16.2% were vacant and 3.2% only occasionally in use. “On its own this is more than sufficient reason to discourage this type of development,” Cacopardo said, calling for a revision of the 2006 government decision.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) also welcomed the Planning Authority rejection, having been challenging the rationalisation scheme in court since 2007, along with the Ramblers Association and Friends of the Earth (Malta).

“While FAA recognises that legal commitments have been entered to, this government is still in time to mitigate the damage by avoiding intense over-development of sites as was proposed in Mosta and many other areas in Malta and Gozo,” FAA said in a statement.

The organisation highlighted that Joseph Muscat had been vehemently opposed to the rationalisation plans in his position as Opposition leader. Now, FAA said, he is able to ensure that the actual development of the already-committed sites is carried out in such a way “to cause least damage by leaving open recreational green areas.”

FAA also suggested that the government introduce the requirement that development of these rationalisation sites be carbon-neutral ahead of the stipulated time.