The Environment Resources Authority has shot down a request to protect a copse of carob trees in Dingli which are facing the chop to make way for a controversial road project.

Moviment Graffiti had filed a request for carob trees in Triq San Ġwann Bosco in Dingli to be declared a Tree Protection Area (TPA), however ERA board members voted down the request, with six votes rejecting the proposal and two votes for. 

Infrastructure Malta intends to cut down the trees to make way for a new road that would connect Daħla tas-Sienja with Sqaq il-MUSEUM, two narrow lanes. The project would require cutting through a number of agricultural fields which are still in use. 

Initial attempts to begin construction on this road began on October 2, when workers contracted by Infrastructure Malta showed up with heavy machinery on unsuspecting farmers doorsteps. 

After the direct intervention of activists and farmers and following a tense three-hour stand-off which saw Infrastructure Malta CEO Frederick Azzopardi turning up to the site in an attempt to placate residents, a temporary stop was put to the works. 

Later in October, ERA also issued a permit that allowed for the uprooting of two trees at the site, however, activists successfully disrupted this as well, arguing that the appropriate time period in which the public was allowed to appeal the permit had not elapsed. 

Activists and farmers appealed the decision that allowed for the felling of the trees, which they say are around 300 years old. 

In a bid to find sturdier protection for the trees, Graffitti got together with residents and filed the paperwork calling for the trees to be declared a TPA.

The authority said in a statement it a statement that while it acknowledged the relevance of these trees, for them to qualify as TPA they had to exhibit “exceptional particular features”.

“The carob trees in question are not linked to past specific cultural and historical events and are not considered as a prominent landmark. Moreover, they do not form any peculiar landscape or specific habitat types or features as listed in the Flora, Fauna and Natural Habitats Protection Regulations (SL 549.44) and the copse does not feature any pertinent diversity within its tree formation with no or limited underbrush and no diversity in woodland species,” it said.

The authority also noted that other carob trees present within the area outside the development zone are protected under the Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations.

Dingli residents remonstrate with Infrastructure Malta CEO Fredrick Azzopardi. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

The proposed road project has garnered a flurry of negative attention from activists and residents, largely because it is viewed as unnecessary and will uproot precious agricultural land from working farmers, who say they were not adequately notified of plans to build a road through their land. 

Additionally, the roads state agency has not sought formal planning permission for the project, bypassing additional scrutiny. 

There have also been concerns that the proposed works could be detrimental to the remains of a medieval church, which served as Dingli's parish church in the 1400's. 

Both Infrastructure Malta and Transport Minister Ian Borg have defended the project, saying that the narrow roads the new street would be linking cannot be widened and is necessary for improving connectivity and access for residents. 

They also hold that as the land is within the development zone, planning permission is not required for roads already schemed into the Planning Authority's local plans, as is the case here.