ERA still considering appeal against Luqa petrol station

The Environment and Resources Authority is still considering whether to appeal the approval of an ODZ petrol station on agricultural land in Luqa on land adjacent to the Water Services Corporation while its right to appeal against the approval of a petrol station in Burmarrad is being contested by the developer.

“ERA is awaiting the publication of the PA’s decision and will consider accordingly. We appreciate that the appeal process is one of the tools that ERA has to affect the planning process. We are careful to use such tool appropriately,” a spokesperson for ERA told MaltaToday.

Last year ERA had also appealed against the approval of a petrol station on agricultural land opposite the Kiabi discount store.

While the St Paul’s Bay Local Council’s appeal was dropped after the approval of a motion by Labour Party representative, Alfred Grima, the Review Tribunal will still have to consider an appeal by ERA.

However, the Environmental and Resources Authority’s right to appeal against an ODZ petrol station – approved and already built in Burmarrad opposite the Kiabi shopping outlet – is being contested by developer, Joseph Attard, who, in this case, is represented by Dr Paul Lia, Dr Micheal Grech and Dr Alicia Camilleri.

According to the tribunal’s minutes, ERA’s right is being challenged because of its role as an “external consultee” during the processing of the application.

A similar argument had been made by the Planning Authority’s lawyer, Robert Abela, during proceedings on ERA’s appeal against the approval of the townsquare project in Sliema.

But on that occasion the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal ruled that NGOs, the Environment and Resources Authority and local councils have a right to appeal decisions on developments, despite having a seat on the Planning Board when decisions to grant permits are given.

The law approved in 2015 gave the Environment and Resources Authority the power to appeal against permits approved by the Authority. This was hailed by former Environment Minister, Leo Brincat, as one of the key changes in the overhaul of planning laws.

“Giving a public authority the power to appeal against a decision taken by another authority may be politically embarrassing for any government. But we are taking that risk,” Brincat told MaltaToday.

So far, the ERA has only used its power to appeal twice; against the approval of a 38-storey tower in Sliema and against the Burmarrad petrol station. ERA’s  appeal against the Townsquare permit for a 38-storey was rejected by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. But the permit was revoked because the appeals presented by ENGOs and the Local council were accepted.   

In its appeal against the Burmarrad petrol station, ERA has presented a number of arguments questioning its approval. According to ERA, the development goes against the policy on fuel filling stations in that the footprint exceeds the required 3,000sq.m and the site lies about 450m away from the nearest fuel filling station, in breach of a required distance of 500m. ERA also contends that the Authority made the wrong interpretation of the Policy when it stated that the required distance of 500m distance does not apply because of the nearby traffic junction. ERA also argued that its objections were not given weight in the determination of the decision by the Authority.