Crematoria policy rules out Addolarata proposal

A draft policy for standalone crematoria will rule out cremation facilities in Areas of High Landscape Protection.

That would mean a proposed cremation facility on a 7,600sq.m of agricultural land to the south of the national Addolorata cemetery, would be precluded under the proposed rules.

The area, known as tal-Ħorr, is designated as an Area of High Landscape Protection and a strategic open gap between urban areas.

The application was presented in 2021 by funeral undertaker Johann Camilleri on behalf of Active Group Limited. The application is currently suspended in anticipation of the new policy. The proposed crematorium would have a 560sq.m building, and an 890sq.m columbarium.

A previous application was refused by the Planning Authority in 2018 because such development is not allowed by the present policy, which only allows cremation facilities within extensions of existing cemeteries. The new policy will now allow standalone crematoria outside the development zones, if they satify a number of stringent criteria.

The sites will have to be within 200m of existing cemeteries. But for proposals on agricultural land they will require clearance is obtained from the PA’s agricultural advisory committee, an advisory panel which had already objected to the Tal-Ħorr crematorium in 2018.

Camilleri’s Camilleri Funeral Directors International had submitted its feedback on the new policy in July 2022, reminding the PA of his company’s application as “submitted by Robert Musumeci” while offering his “assistance” to establish design criteria, technical specifications and ancillary facilities required for such projects. Camilleri said his company had carried out extensive research on crematoria, taking ideas from different projects to fit in to the local funeral industry.

The PA’s official reply was that the policy review will include “specific locational criteria” for crematoria that will guide applications.

The new policy was discussed by parliament’s development committee earlier on this week, where it emerged that the draft policy was not preceded by any feasibility study establishing how many cremation facilities could be allowed, raising the question on why the PA was devising an entire policy framework for a service which can be provided by a single national facility.

The committee heard views from different stakeholders, including Moviment Graffitti’s Denise Grech, who argued in favour of one state-owned facility located on already developed land, and quoting Labour MP Rosiane Cutajar saying that only one cremation facility will be required.

Cutajar had made the statement in an interview with TVM’s Xtra Sajf when she was piloting the cremation law. Cutajar had said: “It’s not viable to have more than one crematorium because the numbers are what they are… a simple calculation would convince anyone that there’s no need for more than one.”

PA official Joseph Scalpello, who presented the policy to MPs, said the aim of the policy is not to control numbers but set clear guidelines where such facilities can be approved.

The draft rules will allow crematoria outside the building zones (ODZ) if these are within 1.5km of the principal urban area’s boundary. For Gozo, crematoria will only be allowed in the countryside around Rabat and Xewkija.

Natura 2000 sites, Areas of High Landscape Protection, industrial areas, ridges, woodlands, garigue, valleys and other protected areas are excluded. ODZ crematoria are also limited to sites covered by a valid development permission, provided that the permit is not related to agriculture, animal husbandry, greenhouses and garden centres.

Crematoria sizes are limited to a 500sq.m footprint, with maximum heights of 7.7m apart from allowances for architectural features and a chimney structure.