67 development applications related to petrol stations were validated or published by the Planning Authority since 2013, a Parliamentary Question reveals.

PN MP Karol Aquilina asked Transport Minister Ian Borg to provide the number of applications for the construction of petrol stations that have been filed with the Planning Authority since 2013, to specify the localities, and whether permission was given.

Minister Borg, in his response, said that 67 development applications related to petrol stations were validated or published by the PA since 2013. The information, he said, was gathered through the Authority’s IT system on validated or published applications which include one of the following words: petrol, pump/s, pompa/I, fuel, LPG, diesel, station/s.

It is pertinent to note that the list includes a variety of applications, including the refurbishment of an already existing station, the relocation of fuel tanks, upgrading of the station, the demolition of a station and its reconstruction, the demolition of a station and its relocation to another site, a few new station applications, a few applications which do not have anything to do with fuel stations etc.

It is also pertinent to note that an application for the construction of a fuel station on tal-Balal road highlighted by this newspaper yesterday, does not seem to appear on the response list in the Parliamentary Question, thus indicating that there could be other applications not featuring on the list. The list shows that at least six of the 67 aforementioned applications are to sanction an existing station, relocate a station or construct a new station (not including those applications dealing with the demolition and construction of a station on the same site).

The issue of fuel stations has become quite a controversial one recently, with a number of applications making headlines. Just yesterday, The Malta Independent published an article about the application on tal-Balal Road, that would see a station built just down the road from an already existing station.

Another particularly controversial application was recently approved for Maghtab, where the relocation of a fuel station to this site caused uproar among objectors. PA board members originally take a preliminary vote which showed the board to turn down the application, yet to the surprise of objectors resulted in a vote in favour of it just weeks later. The objectors argue that a number of PA board members who were not present for the preliminary vote – where the presentation by the objectors was delivered – took part in the final vote.

Other applications recently made the news, relating to stations in Mgarr and Marsascala. The sheer number of fuel stations, and applications for such stations a number of which are on ODZ land, has caused some debate.

The policy dealing with such applications is also being questioned, given that the Prime Minister has already spoke in the recent past of the introduction of a cut-off date beyond which all new car purchases would have to be of electric or similar vehicles.