The rationalisation exercise should be discarded forthwith and land which used to be considered outside the development zones (ODZ) should be returned to that status,” ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said on Saturday.
He was addressing a press conference, together with ADPD candidate Brian Decelis, next to the site of a massive development proposal in Marsascala.
Decelis said Marsascala is also “under attack from multiple directions with development proposals submitted on ODZ land as well as the taking over of public land by commercial entities to extend their business.” Even swimming zones are being curtailed, he said.
The development being proposed on a 5,000 square metre site in Żonqor – which used to be considered as ODZ up to 2006 – includes five floors above ground with over 100 residential units and almost 200 garages.
“The visual impact is going to be massive, so much so that even photo montages published by the Planning Authority itself show that the view of the Marsascala Bay will be completely obliterated as one would be coming down from the Żonqor hill.”
This intensive development will have a considerable cumulative impact on the residents living in this area, which impact has not been assessed as required by the EU’s Strategic Environment Assessment Directive, he said. In particular, there will be a substantial increase in traffic in the area which the local roads cannot carry.
“Undoubtedly, such development in an area which is already intensely built up will negatively impact the residents’ quality of life - both those who reside permanently in Marsaskala as well as those who come here for the summer months.”
ADPD is appealing to the Planning Authority that, should such development be considered, this should not be higher than two floors in recognition of the fact that this will be next to a rural zone, at the edge of a development zone and built on sloping ground.
Just a little bit further up on Żonqor hill there is also a proposal for development which although appears of a small scale in nature the fact that this is on ODZ land if approved may lead to more proposals in the same zone.
“This madness must stop – both in Marsaskala as well as in other localities: the remaining virgin land should be retained as such,” concluded Brian Decelis.
Cacopardo recalled how Malta’s Parliament in 2006 approved the “rationalisation” exercise, as a result of which extensive stretches of land all over the islands, until then outside the development zone (ODZ), were declared as land suitable for development.
This has made possible the proposals for development on land such as this one in Żonqor, without taking into consideration the cumulative impact of such a development.
“It is a fact that such massive projects will lead to the degradation of the quality of life for the residents already living in these localities. The impact of the wrong decisions of 2006 is being felt today, although the writing has been on the wall for some time.”
“The basic question to ask is whether we really need such large-scale developments. Why are we determined as a country to develop every square centimetre of our land? Isn’t it about time that a moratorium on such large-scale development enters in force? Most importantly, the rationalisation exercise should be discarded forthwith and land which used to be considered outside the development zones (ODZ) should be returned to that status”, concluded Cacopardo.