Tal-Mirakli was one of the first to go in Attard. Originally an ODZ and considered part of the green belt between Attard and Mosta. MEPA had approved the development of a five-storey development on this land. More recently, a Planning Control Application was rejected on Dun Mikiel Xerri Street as it planned to cross into an ODZ which did not form part of the rationalisation exercise.
This site, however, will still see development as approval had been given by Parliament back in 2006. Thus residents, who were calling for no development in that area, have no say in the forthcoming development that will eventually occur. Speaking during the MEPA Board meeting regarding this site, a member of the public stood up and admitted that when the rationalisation scheme was introduced, the public didn’t quite understand its implications and are now stuck unable to do anything.
The MEPA Board, during the proceedings, said that MEPA does not have the authority to overturn any decision passed in Parliament.
Back in 2011, a spokesperson for Flimkien Ghall-Ambjent Ahjar had said that knowledgeable developers who had bought cheap ODZ land prior to August 2006 are now seated on goldmines. Gozo is a tenth of Malta’s size, she had said, adding that it received 30 percent of designations to change ODZs into development zones.
The scheme affected around 77 ODZ’s around Malta and Gozo in a number of localities, and more such stories of residents attempting to fight a decision already made will come forth.
PN Whip David Agius had argued that, when voting in Parliament, he was under the impression that the area (referring to the Dun Mikiel Xerri street site) would only allow for the construction of villas, not three storey apartment complexes.
Development on these sites will crop up around the islands.
Long-term impacts
In 2006 the environment NGOs had immediately realised the widespread and long-term impacts of the rationalisation plans for Malta’s environment and residents, FAA Coordinator Astrid Vella said. “We had organised a well-attended protest march in July of that year, voicing our strong opposition to the scheme”.
“However MEPA failed in its legal obligation to explain the full implications of the Rationalisation Plans to the public, just as it failed to carry out the necessary second round of consultation, a fact that was roundly condemned by the Ombudsman. Because of this, many members of the public did not appreciate what was to befall them and sites which had not previously been included in the first round of plans, were slipped in at the second stage, bypassing public consultation,” she added.
Environment NGOs Flimkien Ghall-Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth and Ramblers Association took this matter to the EU and in 2007 opened a court case against government's plans. “However this court case has been bogged down in changes of judges and is not yet concluded, while sites such as the tal-Mirakli monstrosity start to be built up to the dismay of residents who were caught unawares,” Flimkien Ghal-AmbjentAhjar Coordinator Astrid Vella said. “The hollowness of the promises that the plans were intended to ‘allow parents to build a flat for their children’ is now revealed by the 500-apartment projects being proposed as at Attard/Ta Qali. Similarly Joseph Muscat's enthusiasm to speak against the rationalisation plans at the rally (a request we had to decline) seems to have fizzled out as he not made any attempt to reverse them now that he is in power”.
“The closure of essential open gaps between different towns and villages and on biodiversity, water conservation and flooding will also have an impact, as more of our surface area will be sealed with concrete, reducing the amount of rainwater that filters down to the water-table, thus causing more rain to run off into flood-prone areas,” she said.
The rationalisation plans will go down in history as the worst environmental damage to be inflicted on Malta by one government and perpetuated by another, she argued.
Rationalisation needs to be reversed
AD Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo told The Malta Independent that in the party’s 2008 and 2013 manifestos, AD mentioned the need for the rationalisation exercise to be reversed. “The more time passes, the harder it becomes,” he said.
“There are 72,159 empty homes in Malta and Gozo. We live on a small island and we cannot afford to lose more green and agricultural areas”. He emphasised that now, aside from developers, families have bought some of this lands in the hopes of building houses, so it would be unfair to make a 180 degree turn and say that they cannot build there, however certain sites can still be saved. The longer we wait, the harder it will become”.
Speaking with this newsroom, Professor Edward Mallia, Honorary Chairman of Friends of the Earth, mentioned the aforementioned court case. “We have ended up in court with no hope of anything useful happening within a reasonable amount of time. The case was under Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco who is now retiring. We do not know who will take the case and as such we cannot advance”.
“The PN have been dragging their feet in the case”, he said, “often not showing up to sittings or coming then leaving soon after”.
With regards to the developments currently being proposed, he said; “We are now waiting for the PL’s promise to separate the environment and planning departments of MEPA, a system which government is saying will be advantageous”.