Kalkara residents are petitioning against a zoning application that could see a field in the town’s rural conservation area developed and trees uprooted.

The proposal, which would allow development in a currently protected area close to Triq it-Turretta and Triq Patri Mattew Sultana, has been met with opposition from residents, the local council, NGOs and the Environment and Resource Authority.

Joseph Scicluna, 59, is leading a petition among Kalkara residents to oppose the application, which has already been signed by more than 150 residents.

A rural conservation area (RCA) status gives an extra layer of protection to undeveloped sites that go beyond the protection granted to outside development zone sites.

In a report, the Planning Authority’s case officer said the application cannot be considered through the regular Planning Control Alignment process because the site is within the RCA.

“Both the architect and the applicant are aware of these facts but insisted on pursuing the application anyway to reserve their legible rights for an appeal in the event of a negative determination of this application,” the case officer said in his report that recommended the application be refused.

The case officer also recommended the refusal of PC/0070/22 because the site lies in an area of high landscape value intended to protect the harbour fortifications, within the buffer zone intended to protect the discovery of cart ruts.

The application, therefore, goes against Planning Authority policy (SPED) objectives that seek to identify, protect and enhance the character and amenity of distinct urban areas.

The application, filed by Raymond Zammit, is the second of its kind. In 2019, a very similar zoning application was refused by the Planning Authority.

The site plan submitted by the developer.

The Environment and Resource Authority said the objectives it had raised with the old application applied to this attempt.

That includes objections over interventions on mature trees present on site.

The Kalkara council also “strongly objected” to the application, saying the “extension to the developable area would prejudice the protection status of the rural conservation area”.

Wirt il-Kalkara, il-Kollettiv, Din l-Art Ħelwa and Graffitti are among the NGOs opposing the application.