A Planning Authority vote to approve a proposed caravan site has been deferred until July 15 following objections by the Naxxar local council over the lack of detail in the application.
The application was filed last year by Infrastructure Malta and is requesting permission to set up a ‘temporary caravan site’ in a zone marked as ‘il-Għoqot’ in Triq is-Salini, the coast road in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.
According to Naxxar mayor Ann Marie Muscat Fenech Adami, however, the applicant left out basic details such as how the site would be provided with the necessary facilities, such as drainage, electricity, water, toilets and showers.
“We were never against a caravan site, but this application does not take into consideration the amenities required by such a site, and it also ignores the visual impact,” Muscat Fenech Adami said.
The mayor also asked for clarification of the word ‘temporary’ and whether the word applied to the caravans or the site itself.
Muscat Fenech Adami decried the lack of consultation between the government and the council prior to the filing of the application.
She said that although the vote has now been deferred so the provision of mobile toilets can be included in the plan, she is still asking for the application to be rejected.
She called for talks between the council and Infrastructure Malta to draft a plan acceptable to both sides.
In 2020, the Naxxar council drafted a by-law to stop caravans from parking permanently along the Coast Road, but this was rejected by the then minister for local government, José Herrera.
In May, the mayor and other members of the council met Alison Zerafa Civelli, Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government, where they again presented the by-law.
According to Muscat Fenech Adami, that meeting was positive and Zerafa Civelli had promised to take the by-law for discussion in cabinet.
When he shot down the proposed by-law last year, José Herrera had said that this was being done in view of a national plan that was being drafted to address the caravan situation.
Since then, no such plans have been presented by the government.