Balluta Valley in St Julians, which serves as a green lung for the densely populated area of Sliema/St.Julians will continue to retain its full protection status as a scheduled Area of Ecological Importance (AEI).
The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) confirmed its scheduling in its entirety.
In their request before the EPRT, the appellants appealed the protection status given to the area bordering the valley floor. Consequently, the EPRT confirmed that the decision taken by the Planning Authority in November 2011 to protect the overall integrity of the valley through its scheduling and with varying levels of protection including a buffer zone, is to stand.
Il-Wied tal-Balluta is a small valley with relatively steep banks. The valley bed and parts of the valley-sides support dense maquis vegetation whereas a substantial part of its northern valley-side is characterised by exposed karstic terrain with associated floral assemblages. Il-Wied tal-Balluta is located within a major conurbation with intense development pressures. The scheduled valley system including its northern valley side, collectively span an area of just over 46,000m² with a perimeter of approximately 1,200 metres.
Apart from a predominance of carob and olive trees, the valley-bed also supports bay laurels (is-sigar tar-rand) whereas the upper valley side, sustains a population of rosemary (il-klin) and the endemic Maltese pyramidal orchids (l-orkida piramidali), amongst other floral species.
During the appeals’ proceedings before the EPRT, the Planning Authority stressed that the objective of the scheduling is twofold: to protect Il-Wied tal-Balluta on its own merits as a component of the nation’s natural heritage and to act as a development control mechanism.
Scheduling of the natural heritage is not just about biodiversity, geomorphology or other features of ecological or scientific importance. It is a national level designation which seeks to control and channel anthropogenic influences in the form of development pressures through a set of statutory criteria that define the extent and type of development that can be allowed.