in Mgarr has been accepted by the Planning Authority (PA) board this morning, with six votes in favour and three against.

Approval of the renewal application will see a petrol station located in the heart of Mgarr Square relocated to a rural area on ODZ land on Triq l-Imgarr.  

The original application was approved in 2011, however the applicant did not conclude works and as such had to file this renewal application. The site seems, thus far, to have been excavated.  The original application was filed before the introduction of the fuel services station policy.

Back in 2011, some residents attended a PA meeting where they expressed their support of the project, saying Mgarr square was not a suitable site for the petrol station.

According to the original plans, the new station would include, among other things Some NGOs however, argued that the application would relieve one area of an eyesore and health hazard, and inflict it on an area situated on land outside the development zone.

According to the original plans, the new station would include, among other things, 

fuel pumps, a workshop/mechanic, a display area for the sale of agricultural machinery and tools, an office, five car parking slots, a car wash platform, a jet wash, a further three car parking slots for staff, and a store.  The plans indicate that the station will have a basement area.

Representatives of the fuel station argued that the time frames imposed by the previous application were not realistic. They said that after carrying out in depth studies it was concluded that a five year time frame, rather than a three year one, would be more realistic.

Two PA board members questioned why an illegality, which is described hereunder, has only been removed by 80 per cent in the 20 years since its existence. One board member suggested that no renewal is granted until all illegalities are brought back into line.  

The site area, according to the plans presented with the original application, is 3,754 sqm, and would see a total built area of 2754.83sqm. The Planning Board had, in 2011, voted 6-4 in favour of the application, but according to news reports at the time, then MEPA Chairman Austin Walker said that building petrol stations built outside development zones was not ideal, but that all factors had to be considered.

The case officer has recommended that the application renewal be approved, however has imposed the same conditions as were seen in the original application approval. One such condition, states that prior to the issuing of the development permission, and no later than three months of the approval of this application, the applicant shall enter into a public deed to ensure compliance with certain conditions “which shall be complied with within three [now changed to five] years of the issuing of the development permission.” The conditions listed are the closure of the fuel filling service at Mgarr Square including its de-commissioning, decontamination and restoration; the closure of a garage at Sir Harry Luke Street and its change of use to a garage for private cars, and “the closure of the illegal open yard behind Mgarr Square Playing Field and the reinstatement in accordance with the Land remediation Plan to be submitted for the PA’s approval within 6 months of the issuing of this development permission.”

This is not the only fuel station planned for ODZ land in the area. Further down the same stretch of road, a newer application seeks to demolish a small rural structure on agricultural land, and build the construction of proposed car facilities, comprising of an auto-parts shop, fuel pumps, car wash, garages and cafeteria.