Areas of ODZ land over five times the size of the Floriana Granaries in total have been earmarked for new fuel stations around the island.

A massive 46,500 square metres of rural land could be lost to such facilities under 14 different development applications submitted or approved since the introduction of the controversial Fuel Service Stations Policy in 2015, analysis by The Sunday Times of Malta reveals.

Three of these applications have been approved, while the rest are pending or undergoing screening by the Planning Authority. They all seek to build new or relocated stations outside development zones, and range in size from around 1,500 to 5,000 square metres, much of the time on agricultural land.

The Fuel Stations Policy, which allows kerbside stations to be relocated to ODZ land, is currently facing a review ordered by Environment Minister José Herrera to address the “burden such developments are posing on agricultural or ecologically important land”.

The review comes after a string of facilities were approved on virgin land. The ministry said that while many of the proposals were in line with the policy, they raised “significant concern regarding the cumulative environmental impact caused by the policy framework”.

Get the whole picture here: Petrol stations: a pipeline to concrete in the countryside