The development application on a quarry on Triq il-Belt Valletta, Mqabba should be refused due to serious issues of environmental health related to the proposed project, ADPD Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo.

The application is on the site of a quarry, and proposes recycling activity including the execution of crushing on site and stock piling. The proposal also includes the construction of garages for the parking of construction vehicles, an underground reservoir and cesspit. 

Cacopardo said this in response to the Planning Authority's report recommending the approval of the application.

ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that Cacopardo's response was submitted on behalf of a number of Mqabba residents. The ADPD stated that the application is a threat to the public health of both the residents and the Mqabba schoolchildren who attend the local primary school situated a few metres away from the quarry.

In his letter to the Executive Chairman of the PA, Cacopardo stated that the site of the application under consideration lies just 15 metres away from the Mqabba development scheme boundary. He added that the proposed development has a projected lifespan of between 15 to 20 years.

Cacopardo said that the development application is objectionable in principle due to its close proximity to the residential areas as well as the locality's primary school.

He continued that the proposal to have an operational crusher on site and to stockpile the resulting crushed material on site in open air are issues of environmental health for reasons such as the generation of dust and noise, which Cacopardo said are fundamentally planning issues even though they result from the operation of the proposal under consideration. He added that they are an integral part of the proposed development and that they are in contrast to and in direct conflict with the quality of life one expects in a residential area in 21st-century Malta.

Continuing on this point, Cacopardo said that the noise and dust generated by the proposed development are of considerable prejudice to the health of the Mqabba schoolchildren and their teachers, which is "a stone's throw from the site under construction".

"This further adds to the issues contributing to respiratory problems in the Maltese Islands," Cacopardo commented.

Cacopardo spoke of the Minerals Subject Plan for the Maltese Islands, which he said prioritises the siting of dust-generating activities away from sensitive areas. He continued that on this basis, the proximity of the local primary school and the residential community should have completely ruled out the proposed project on a point of principle. He added that the Minerals Subject Plan states that there is an estimation that dust emissions from quarries can be deposited around 250 metres from the source and up to 500 metres in extreme cases. With that in mind, Cacopardo said that the Mqabba primary school lies within that area of impact, which he remarked is enough to result in the refusal of the development application in question.

Additionally, Cacopardo said that the dust suppression report limits its recommendations to the considerations of the dust generated by the crushing machine but that it completely ignores the continuous dust generated by the stockpiling of the crushed materials in the open air on the site. Cacopardo said that irrespective of any merits of the recommendations resulting from the dust suppression report, dust would still be continuously generated throughout the project's 15 to 20 year timeframe.

The ADPD Deputy Chairperson said that such continuous dust generation would have a considerable and continuous impact on the residential community as well as on the primary school.

"In view of the close proximity of the site under construction to the residential area as well as to the primary school, this is a serious omission. I would understand the reluctance of the applicant to address the issue of dust dispersal through stockpiling in order to try and wriggle out of his responsibilities to the community. However, it is to be underlined that the matter has also been ignored in the DPAR (Development Permit Application Report), as well as by both the Environment and Resources Authority and the Environment Health authorities in their submissions and response to the development proposal."

Cacopardo added that the lack of submissions from educational authorities is also very worrying given the considerable impacts on the Mqabba primary school by the proposed development.

He said that while the noise mitigation report is recommended by the DPAR to be an approved supported document, the dust suppression report is not. Cacopardo acknowledged that this might be an oversight and could be rectified at a later stage.