Updated at 10.25am
An activist group that has campaigned to revise planning policies for fuel stations said on Tuesday that the new policy issued for consultation on Monday is an improvement "if loopholes are removed".
Moviment Graffitti said it welcomed the long-awaited review and was pleased that pressure it and other NGOs had applied had had its desired effect.
"This shows that when people band together, positive change can be achieved," it said.
The group said it is "cautiously optimistic" about the changes proposed, but there were several points of concern which it would be raising in its feedback to the Planning Authority during the public consultation period.
Revised policy
Released this week, the revised policy - which must go through a public consultation process and be approved by the Planning Authority, cabinet and parliament before becoming law - amends various aspects of the original fuel station policy.
According to the amended proposal, relocated fuel stations must be sited in designated industrial areas, small and medium enterprise sites, areas of containment or open storage sites.
Areas in Outside Development Zones may also be considered, provided they already have a permitted or legal commitment and are not related to agriculture or animal husbandry.
Fuel stations cannot be larger than 1,000 square metres, down from the 3,000 square metres currently permitted, although activists say that that size restriction is loosely worded and open to interpretation. Any station that remains unused for three years must be demolished, the new policy is proposing.
Graffiti notes concerns
In its reaction, Graffiti noted that although the revised policy states that pending fuel station applications should be decided on the basis of this revised policy, "there is no mention of the applications due to be heard in the period up to the approval of the new policy. There is no sense in proposing a change while allowing applications already submitted to continue being decided according to the old policy," the group said.
Since it may take many months before any changes are made, the group said the PA should halt any and all applications for fuel service stations until the proposed policy comes into effect.
It observed that the draft revised policy features several improvements over the one currently in force. The options for take-up of ODZ land are significantly more limited.
Graffiti said however, that the proposed policy "requires no limit on size and no minimum distance between fuel stations", including those in Areas of Containment - ODZ sites that have already been subjected to development.
"This may open the door to massive complexes of commercial services for cars, using the excuse of dispensing fuel to justify the take up of large parcels of land," it warned.
"Fuel stations should be limited in size, with other commercial activities related to car servicing operating under a commercial policy. The current and proposed policies both allow this abuse," it said.
The proposed policy also allows for the upgrading of facilities for ancillary services. This seems to open the door for fuel stations to expand for reasons unrelated to the fuel dispensing function, again providing a loophole that can be exploited.
"The fact that ODZ land remains available for development, notwithstanding the increased constraints in that regard, continues to devalue the ODZ classification. Moviment Graffitti stresses that ODZ should remain ODZ, and land already committed should not continue to be degraded, but should be returned to its natural state or used for agriculture. A similar loophole has led to the loss of a lot of ODZ land for residential purposes. We can expect the same if the proposed policy goes through. To err is human, to persist is criminal," the group said.