PL MPs representing Żurrieq, including planning minister Stefan Zrinzo have skirted questions on whether they objected to plans that will see 12,000 square metres of farmland turned into a residential area between Żurrieq and Nigret.
On Monday, PN leader Bernard Grech said the PN would be discussing the planning application but did not say whether he objected or not.
If the plans are approved by the Planning Authority, an area the size of just over one and a half football pitches of farmland would be developed.
The PA was due to discuss the application on Tuesday afternoon. However, the hearing was postponed until June 6.
Labour MPs Zrinzo, Miriam Dalli, and Owen Bonnici, all elected in the fifth district, attributed the planning application to a 2006 ‘rationalisation’ policy that extended building zones and led to unprecedented urban sprawl.
“That is developable land thanks to the rationalisation policy of 2006,” planning minister Zrinzo said when asked if he had objected to the proposed zoning change.
Environment minister Miriam Dalli said that the zoning change was part of the rationalisation scheme of 2006, but added that all developments should follow Planning Authority guidelines and also consider environmental issues.
Asked again if she had objected to the zoning proposal, Dalli said “as environment minister, I want to see that environmental considerations are given their importance, not only in this specific case but in general”.
On the doorstep of parliament, PN leader Bernard Grech said that “uncontrolled and unplanned extraordinary development is damaging people’s lives”.
But on whether the PN agreed or disagreed with the zoning change in Nigret, Grech did not give an answer saying “we will be discussing it tomorrow”,.
There were some 1,500 objections to the development application when plans were first published in 2019 and Żurrieq local council garnered a similar number of signatures in a petition signed against the project.
Last week, Żurrieq residents wrote to their MPs, warning them of the impact on the area if the application is approved.
"If the zone is made available for development as proposed in the application not only will agricultural land be lost, not only will biodiversity suffer, not only will pollution and traffic increase, but this application will reduce important open spaces and will forever ruin the area, and above all continue to reduce the quality of life, the residents wrote.
The letter was sent to all MPs representing the locality including the PL's Miriam Dalli, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Owen Bonnici and Omar Farrugia; and the PN's Toni Bezzina, and Stanley Zammit.
Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech were also sent a copy.
Should the application be approved, "there are legal avenues of challenging the PA decision", lawyer Claire Bonello said when asked if the decision can be appealed.
The site, bordering an Outside Development Zone (ODZ) area was first set for development in 2006 through The South Malta Local Plan which designated the land as a residential area.
Local plans dictate what forms of development are allowed in different geographical areas.
They are often cited as a key contributor to overdevelopment, especially through the infamous ‘rationalisation’ of development boundaries, which increased building zones and led to an unprecedented urban sprawl.
Last November prime minister Robert Abela dismissed calls to change local plans saying that property value would change drastically causing huge, dangerous uncertainty.
“I believe they shouldn’t be changed because it creates great injustice for people,” he said during a Times of Malta Interview
On Monday PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba called on the government to reverse local plans and protect Nigret.
“In the last 10 years a labour government has solved many problems that we inherited from the previous administration, I believe that in this difficult case (local plans), we need to save this important lung for Żurrieq residents.