Plans for a controversial tarmac and concrete batching plant that was set to be relocated to Mqabba have been withdrawn. 

In a letter sent to the Planning Authority on Tuesday, the project architect Ivan Bondin said that the applicants, BIP Ltd, are “no longer interested in pursuing this application” and requested to have it withdrawn. 

No further details were listed in the brief correspondence. 

Plans to move the plant from Ħal Far to a disused quarry in Mqabba came to public attention when a group of residents staged a protest against the plans last year, calling them “mad” and saying that the pollution generated by it would end up locking people in their homes. 

Last month, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that the plans would be scrapped and that it was not right to have the asphalt and tarmac industry “inching closer to residents”. 

Abela credited Economy Minister Silvio Schembri and the state agency INDIS as having “found a solution” that would lead to the plans being dropped, although no details on what this may be were shared during the speech. 

BIP Ltds’ plans would have seen the batching plant move just 500 metres away from residents’ homes, the locals say. The plans were recommended for approval by the PA’s case officer. 

The company is owned by Sandra Axiak and Francesca Penza, daughters of contractor Carmel Penza. 

The Qrendi, Mqabba, Safi, Rabat, Żurrieq, Kirkop and Siġġiewi local councils all objected to the plans, echoing concerns voiced by residents that the tarmac plant could impact their long-term health. 

Residents who spoke to Times of Malta about the project said that the plans took them by surprise and that the area had already been exploited by the quarries, with residents suffering the brunt of dust pollution and dumping taking place there. 

Farmers who till fields and keep livestock in the surrounding areas also expressed concern about how they would be impacted by the plant should it have been built there.