The Naxxar Local Council has vehemently objected to an "outrageous" application for an elderly home and 104-car parking area to be built on rural, Outside Development Zone farmland.
The application proposes an elderly care home on 9,325 square metres of farmland along Triq Wied Anglu and Triq il-Vittmi tan-Nar in Naxxar, in an area which is close to the Victoria Lines and Birguma Quarry and overlooks the Gharghur countryside.
The home is proposed to consist of 70 rooms spread across three above ground floors and two basement levels, together with underground parking.
The application was filed by Arthur Tonna, with Charles Buhagiar - who is a former Labour MP and currently the chair of the Building and Construction Consultative Council, which advises the government on construction-related issues - as the project architect.
The application has attracted hundreds of objections, with the Naxxar Local Council among them.
"This application egregiously disregards national and international environmental protection policies, violates fundamental planning laws, and breaches procedural safeguards established to protect Malta's rural landscape from unsustainable development," the local council said in its objection letter, filed with the Planning Authority on Wednesday.
The council said that the application breaches the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED), the Central Malta Local Plan, the Rural Policy and Design Guidance, several procedural requirements of Development Planning Regulations, and European Union and International Environmental Regulations.
The council argued that it breached the SPED because the policy mandates the protection of rural areas from urban encroachment and the applicant "has not provided any site selection exercise, nor have they justified why this development, typically suited for an urban area, is being proposed in an ODZ."
It further argued that the SPED dictates that elderly care facilities must be sited in urban locations to ensure accessibility to essential services and transport. "The proposed development's location in a remote rural area, far removed from services, undermines this policy, contributing to urban sprawl and placing undue pressure on Malta's rural landscape" the council observed.
The council stated that the plans will "significantly alter the rural character of the area, introducing urban features that are incompatible with the surrounding environment" and also risking an urban sprawl which will threaten the preservation of rural land that is "critical for both agriculture and biodiversity."
The council continued by saying that the applicant had not presented all the necessary documentation - such as a site selection exercise, environmental impact assessment, or biodiversity surveys, had not presented a justification as to why the application is being planned for ODZ land, and had not notified and engaged with stakeholders - such as the council itself - about the development.
The council said that as a result of the aforementioned reasons it "unequivocally opposes" the development.
"The proposed elderly care home in ODZ not only represents an unjustified intrusion into a protected rural area but also undermines the very foundations of sustainable development and environmental protection that Malta is committed to upholding," it said.
The council reserved the right to challenge the application at the Planning Tribunal, in Malta's courts and, if necessary "in international fora to ensure that the integrity of Malta's planning laws and environmental obligations are upheld."
Besides the Naxxar Local Council's objection, over 500 representations have been filed by members of the public against the proposed project as well.
The Planning Authority has already approved two elderly homes in ODZ areas in Naxxar in the last seven years, with the most recent being one proposed by PL local councillor Marlon Brincat instead of an abandoned far, less than half a kilometre away from this application.
That application was approved, but the decision has been appealed by environmental NGOs.