The Malta Environment and Planning Authority board yesterday unanimously approved, during a public hearing, an application for amendments to the development permit for a civic amenity facility at Tal-Kus in Xewkija.
The permit in question was PA 4299/06 for the development of a Civic Amenity Facility (for bulky household refuse) in Xewkija, and the amendments proposed by means of PA 676/07 concerned alterations on the site’s layout. The applicant was Vincent Magri on behalf of WasteServ Malta Ltd, and architect Robert Sant spoke on their behalf at the hearing.
Xewkija local council opposed the permit, as well as its amendments, on the grounds that the amenity site lay in the middle of Mgarr ix-Xini Regional Park, and it encroached on sites of archaeological and ecological importance. Therefore they objected “not just for the shifting of the site but also to the development itself”, claiming that Mepa “deliberately failed to consult the competent authorities on these issues.”
Addressing those at the hearing, Architect Sant said that they had explained to the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage’s Enforcement Officer that the work being carried out was covered by the previous permit, so although SCH said there was an irregularity, they were not right.
Mepa stated that the amendments approved by means of this application (PA 676/07) constituted a major improvement over the approved Civic Amenity Site (CAS) permit since the site was being lowered by about two metres. Although the size of the site has been enlarged, the impact should be limited, Mepa argued.
The planning directorate has requested the developer to further mitigate the visual impact, since the guard room can be redesigned. The road leading to the transfer station has also been lowered by approximately three metres. The applicant will also have to re-instate a number of sites in the vicinity of the area, by removing illegal dumping carried out in the past. All sites within a radius of 250 metres that are occupied by illegal dumped material and where the ownership of the contravener is not known to the Authority (according to the Polluter Pays Principle) shall be restored back to their original state by the applicant, i.e. WasteServ, at its expense. All other remaining sites shall be cleaned up within five years from the issue of the development permission.
Furthermore, the development proposed has been approved, subject to the condition that before its commencement “archaeological field evaluation works ‘may’ be carried out on site. The method of excavation and clearance of the site shall be as approved in advance by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage and the Environment Protection Directorate.”
Xewkija local council’s consultant, Lino Bianco, told the hearing that to be fair the above condition should have included the word ‘must’ and not ‘may’, relating to field evaluation works.
The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage said they had already drawn attention to the fact that the site was an archeologically sensitive area, and that it was unclear how the new proposal would affect the visibility of the structures and related activities. On 10 August, 2007 officers of the SCH inspected the site and confirmed the presence of features that required further investigation and documentation.