Mosta fields face prospect of development, ADPD warns ahead of PA decision

Fields on the outskirts of Mosta face the imminent threat of development nine years after a similar proposal was rejected, the Green Party warned yesterday ahead of a Planning Authority decision on the site expected Tuesday.

In a statement, the Green Party said the 2019 development proposal for the 40,000 square metre agricultural site was “not much different” from the rejected proposal nine years ago.

The recent application from developer Charles Azzopardi seeks to “establish zoning, building heights and road alignments of the rationalisation exercise site”. If approved, it could open the door to the construction of three-storey buildings across most of the site.

The proposal has been recommended for approval. 

The application (PC/00021/19) for the area known as Tad-Dib, near Torri Cumbo, has attracted around 400 objections from residents, and while the PA decision has yet to be made, ADPD expressed foreboding at the expected result.

While the original decision “gave us some hope... Unfortunately, over these past nine years, the Planning Authority has taken many decisions that have contributed to the destruction of more and more agricultural land in various localities”, the party said.

The change in tack at the PA could be traced back to 2006, ADPD noted, when Parliament controversially voted to open two million square metres of Outside Development Zone (ODZ) land for building projects as part of the ‘Rationalisation of Development Zone Boundaries’ exercise.

“At that time, the Labour Opposition had voted against this destruction. Today, instead of being consistent with the political position it took when in opposition, it is now keen on the destruction of such land”, said ADPD.

It said Labour’s attitude to development was “in glaring contrast” to its electoral pledge of investing €700 million in public green spaces.

“Instead of spending €700 million... it would have been a much wiser decision for the government to protect the public spaces that nature has gifted us: these need to be protected from the rabid greed that has grown from the unbridled development that has taken over this country.”

The Greens stressed theirs was the only party to have regularly emphasised the need to reverse the 2006 decision in every one of its manifestos.

Warning that the Mosta site was “not the only area facing this fate”, the party said there were “swathes” of agricultural land across the country in the same situation.

“We stand with the residents and the associations of residents who continually speak about the need for public spaces accessible to the public. If we want to be serious about public spaces and their protection, we need to begin with the protection of agricultural land from any development.”