A court has overturned a decision taken by the planning authority Mepa giving the go-ahead for a quarry to be excavated on agricultural land adjacent to a special conservation area.

This was the latest twist in a saga that has been ongoing since 2005 when the permit for a quarry to be "relocated" to the picturesque Wied Moqbol was turned down by Mepa.

An appeal was filed by developer Charles Fenech and turned down by a different Mepa appeals board in 2009.

The Zurrieq site is designated by the South Malta Local Plan as a protected agricultural area.

For some reason, Mepa changed tack in December 2014 and gave the go-ahead for quarry excavation to take place on the agricultural land.

The nearby Wied Moqbol is designated as a Special Area of Conservation of International Importance under the Natura 2000 programme due to the importance of the species as well as archaeological remains found there.

In its latest decision, the Mepa appeals tribunal acknowledged that the quarry would result in the loss of the "rural characteristics" of the agricultural land, but the tribunal said the impact would only be "temporary" as the area could be rehabilitated once the quarry was exhausted.

It also reasoned that the damage by the new quarry will be compensated by the rehabilitation of quarries in the vicinity of Hagar Qim.

Mepa also reasoned that the land in question "is barely cultivable as most of the site consists of exposed rock, bird hides, and low lying soil deposits."

Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti blew this reasoning out of the water in his judgement, saying that Mepa was legally incorrect to take the quality of the agricultural land into consideration, as planning laws protect such land regardless and only permits changes of use that are essential for agricultural needs.

Neither did the court agree with Mepa's argument that the site will be restored once the quarry ceases operations, as such an argument cannot be used to "ignore" the policies protecting agricultural land.