The saga concerning the proposal to construct a separation plant at Wied Garnaw escalated last month when the Malta Environment and Planning Authority carried out direct action on site.

The action was taken following an enforcement notice issued by Mepa when a layer of inert material was dumped on the land in question after the soil had been removed.

The application turned down yesterday by the DCC was to construct the inorganic separation unit, to sanction the removal of the soil and to also authorise the height of the boundary wall constructed on site. The plant that was proposed would have been used for the collection of inorganic waste. This waste would have consisted mostly of glass, metal, paper, timber and rubber.

The developer was proposing to separate the waste under a shed on site. The material would then have been divided into specific skips before being transferred to the waste disposal plant.

According to a case report compiled by the officer assigned to this case, the proposed site lies in the green belt that separates the villages of Gudja, Santa Lucia and Tarxien, in an area considered to be of considerable environmental importance.

In the report the case officer recommended that the application should be turned down for a number of reasons. Firstly, the report stated, the proposed site is located in a rural conservation area of agricultural value.

It added that the proposed development ran counter to a policy of the approved Waste Management Subject Plan which requires that the proposed site is located within an existing industrial area or on land which is allocated for industrial or similarly related development; or on land previously used for waste disposal or minerals developments; or at a waste management facility provided that the proposed development is connected with the waste management operation and is for a temporary period commensurate with the operational life of the existing facility; and the proposal will not give rise to an unacceptable impact on local communities or the environment.

The report continued that the proposal did not fall within one of the categories of development, namely structures or facilities essential to agricultural, ecological or scenic interests, which may be permitted in Rural Conservation Areas where they meet the principles and criteria set out in the Structure Plan.

The report concluded that the area in which the site is located is of considerable scenic value; it would have generated a considerable volume of vehicular movements that would have had a significant and unacceptable impact on the road network in the area.

The case officer, in his report, also mentions the petition signed by 3,700 people, most of whom were residents, who called on Mepa to reject the application since it would have an adverse effect on their lives in view of the area’s environmental importance.

The Save Wied Garnaw Action Group got the backing of several local members of parliament who even spoke in the House of Representatives about the issue and the effect they believed it would have had on the residents.

The applicant who filed the case, Emanuel Magro, now has 30 days to lodge an appeal before the Appeals Board.