PL mayor changes tune on approved Xewkija airfield

A decision by the Planning Authority to approve the development of a rural airfield in Xewkija was welcomed by most parties involved.

Except for the locality’s mayor Simona Refalo who, less than a month ago, had spoken positively about the project in an exclusive interview with GozoToday.

Refalo, daughter of Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo, on Thursday called on the board to postpone taking a final decision to ensure that residents are properly consulted.

“If everything is so transparent, we should have no problem postponing the decision to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard,” the mayor said, despite the fact that the council led by her predecessor, had not objected when the application was presented two years ago.

And despite the fact that in an interview with GozoToday, published on 13 September, Refalo said she believed the airfield could help attract new business to Gozo.

And despite the fact that in an exclusive interview with GozoToday, published on 13 September, Refalo had spoken positively about the proposed expansion of the airfield.

When asked what business sectors, besides tourism, she - as mayor - would like to see developed in Xewkija, the airfield was one of the projects she referred to.

“With the redevelopment of the Gozo Rural Airfield, I believe that we can attract industries related to the aviation sector,” Refalo had told this newspaper.

And yet, a mere two weeks later, on 27 September, the Xewkija local council had announced it had unanimously agreed to oppose the application for the redevelopment of the airstrip.

In sharp contrast to what Refalo had claimed in the interview two weeks earlier, the local council claimed that it believed the airstrip project would be a nuisance to the residents and harm the environment. Noticeably, Refalo had made no such claims in her interview.

The development envisages a 271-metre extension to an existing disused 174-meter runway on the outskirts of Xewkija, in the vicinity of the former heliport, 300 metres away from the nearest residential cluster along Triq l-Imġarr and 1km away from the towns of Għajnsielem and Xewkija.

The airfield will host planes arriving from the Malta International Airport between 6:00am and 1:00am.

A noise study carried out as part of the application concluded that while noise from air and ground operations will impact residents in the immediate surroundings, particularly at night, this impact would be lower than that produced by the site’s previous use as a heliport.

Refalo’s claim that there was no public consultation was rebutted by Executive Chairman Oliver Magro, who pointed out that the application followed established procedures, including notification of the local council and its publication, allowing the public to make representations.

Moreover, the project’s architect highlighted that the Gozo Regional Development Authority had also held its own consultation before the application was even presented.

A spokesperson for the GRDA had told GozoToday that several one-to-one meetings were held with various entities including with the Xewkija Local Council on 16 May 2022. This meeting was recorded in the local council’s own minutes dated 17 May 2022.

A similar meeting was held with Għajnsielem Local Council on 18 May 2022.

Decision welcomed

After the PA hearing, Gozo minister Clint Camilleri issued a statement saying the airfield was an electoral pledge and Gozo deserves increased connectivity.

“We are looking at this project holistically, whereby apart from creating an airlink between Gozo and Malta, we’re also looking to create new economic niches in a sector that Gozo never benefitted from,” he said.

The minister insisted that this project respects the surrounding environment, and further measures will be taken to alleviate the visual and noise impacts of the airfield activity. He also promised that no virgin or agricultural land will be affected by the project.

GRDA CEO Mario Borg told GozoToday that the PA’s approval of the rural airfield in Xewkija signals an important decision that will improve the connectivity of Gozo.

“Since 2022, the GRDA has actively assessed the potential impact of this project. It looked extensively at the socio-economic impact and how this can affect the economic activities on Gozo and on the quality of life of the residents,” he said. “In fact, during a very wide public consultation, the GRDA considered the stakeholders’ views including the residents, carefully looking at all the feedback and where possible mitigate any potential negative impact.”

Borg said that the development of the airfield and ancillary activities will generate significant benefits, reaching around €2.5 million each year and create a total of 48 full time jobs.

The Gozo Business Chamber also welcome the PA’s decision, noting how the site - which was in the past used for a scheduled helicopter service between the two islands - was now being used only for the air ambulance service.

The Chamber said this is an important first step to ensure the re-establishment of an air connection between Malta and Gozo.

“The Chamber also believes that this will help in facilitating other activities related to the aviation sector,” its statement read. “The Chamber would like to highlight that after the introduction of an all-year round regular scheduled fast ferry service, the approval of the rural airfield is another important step to continuing enhancing accessibility to Gozo.”

The Gozo Tourism Association said the airfield infrastructure will be the latest loop in the inter-island connectivity chain, offering an alternative mode link between the two main Islands.

“At this juncture, the Gozo Tourism Association notes with eagerness Government’s intent to introduce the fixed-wing airlink between Malta and Gozo, a form of transport that has been on the Association’s agenda for the last twenty-five years,” the association said in a statement following the PA’s decision.

“The Gozo Tourism Association is confident that the establishment of the fixed-wing inter-island’s operation will not only enhance connectivity, but it will open up new job opportunities here on Gozo.”

Project approved in absence of EIA

While declaring that he was not against improved connectivity, NGO representative Romano Cassar voted against the project due to the lack of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) had concluded that the environmental impacts of the project were limited and did not warrant an EIA, while requesting a noise impact study and another study on the impact on neighboring protected ecological areas and bird colonies.

“EIAs have been carried out for much smaller projects. For a project of this scale, one would have expected an EIA,” Cassar said.

The case officer report recommended approval of the project, insisting that the environmental impacts are minimal.

Cassar also pointed out that the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (SCH) made it clear that it can only assess the application after the conclusion of archaeological evaluations.

Board member Martin Camilleri proposed that the permit should only be executable after the archaeological evaluation is finalised and the SCH concludes its assessment. The suggestion was accepted by the board.

ERA had concluded that the project does not require a full EIA but had asked for an appropriate assessment to evaluate the impact on surrounding areas.