Żebbuġ residents woke up on Friday morning to find a crude message to the Planning Authority on concrete barriers surrounding a fuel station development in the village’s square.

The message, sprayed in red paint, reads "you f***ed up the (village) square, thank you PA". 

The Golden Lion service station, which stopped operating two years ago, was originally granted an approval for a refurbishment and storage capacity upgrade in 2015 (PA/02057/14).

Residents familiar with the fuel station said that the upgrade was abandoned shortly after it was approved in November 2015, because the sitting tenant died before works could start. The local council at the time had not objected to the project. 

The station remained unchanged until 2019, when it stopped operating.

Planning permits are valid for a five-year period and the fuel station's 2015 permit was due to expire in November 2020. But the plans were given a new lease of life when the PA announced a blanket extension of all PA permits in March 2020.

After this blanket extension, a new tenant took over the Golden Lion and started operating the fuel station again, according to residents. Upgrade plans have now been restarted.  

The plans run directly counter to the PA's own fuel stations policy, which states that such stations should not be located in village cores. That revised policy was introduced just one month after the PA issued its blanket permit extension. 

While the revised policy applies retroactively, it does not nullify already-issued permits, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said on Twitter.

Residents were notified that upgrade works to the Żebbuġ station would commence on January 20 of this year. Works since then have been ongoing.

Council's pedestrian plans

Besides being at odds with the revised fuel stations policy, the redevelopment of the station is also in direct contrast with the local council’s efforts to pedestrianise the village square.

In May of last year, Żebbuġ’s local council had declared the square a car-free zone on public holidays.

The council had been spurred on by a government initiative which asked councils to name areas which they would like to be accessible only to pedestrians during specific times or days.  

Last month, the council had stated that “after discussing the situation with all concerned parties, we have come to the conclusion that this fuel station should not keep on operating in its current location.”

“It is in the centre of the village and is surrounded by residents, a few metres away from a primary school. This pumping station will increase traffic in the village core, and with it, air pollution in Sciortino road and St Philip’s square,” the statement issued by the council reads.

NGO Moviment Graffitti had also issued a brief statement on the issue, arguing that the fuel station in its present location is dangerous to neighbouring residents, children on their way to school, restaurant diners and flea market shoppers alike.

“A pedestrianised square with a petrol station in the middle of it, so we can service the few whilst antagonising the many,” Graffitti had stated.

Questions sent to the Environment Minister were not replied to by the time of publication.

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