A new planning application is seeking to turn some 6,210 square metres of agricultural land in Bengħajsa into a hard stone quarry for mineral working.
The quarry, as proposed in PA/02673/22 by Paul Falzon, would see the take up of a massive tract of land outside the development zone on a site currently within a designated area of landscape protection.
As a stakeholder, the Birżebbuġa Local Council wants the application refused on the basis that the site lies some 100 metres from the coastline, which is protected both in terms of landscape value and scientific importance.
The council added that the site is also close to Fort Bengħajsa and that quarrying operation might have a damaging effect on the fort.
Built by the British between 1910 and1912, Fort Bengħajsa is a polygonal fort in a chain of fortifications intended to protect the Marsaxlokk harbour.
Though privately owned and not open to the public, the fort is evidently in a state of disrepair and neglect.
Activist group Moviment Graffitti has also objected to the proposal, calling the loss of such a large slice of agricultural land for a quarry “unacceptable”.
“The daily use of this quarry will have a negative effect on all the surrounding agricultural areas and their produce,” it said.
“There are concerns regarding the emission of dust particles, noise pollution and vibrations from the quarry and the negative impact on the surrounding environment, including coating of vegetation, contamination of soils, water pollution, change in plant species composition and a key loss of habitat in the area.”
The quarry would affect air and noise quality in the area, which includes residences in Bengħajsa, the NGO added, and heavy machinery like crushers, excavators, trucks and explosives would be used in the buffer zone of an area of ecological importance and very close to a Natura 2000 site.
“This development would be irreversible in an area that has a potential to be improved and used for social recreation,” they said.
The application has yet to receive a formal recommendation from the PA’s case officer.
Representations for the proposal are set to close on May 27 and the case scheduled to be heard on August 8.