A total of 935 square metres of trees and public space will be sacrificed if an application for the relocation of a petrol station in Gżira goes ahead, the local council warned on Saturday.

Ġnien Il-Kunsill tal-Ewropa caters for about 50,000 people and provides the only open space for families and friends to behave like a community in a heavily urbanised area, Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manche told a news conference.

Borg Manche said the entire council sees no valid justification for the petrol station next to the entrance to Manoel Island to be relocated down the road and into part of the garden.

"The relocation's main justification is because of a road-widening exercise that was set to occur in front of Manoel Island. The road-widening has never happened," the mayor explained.

"We cannot correct a 60-year-old mistake with a bigger mistake," Borg Manche insisted.

If the decision is approved, there will be four petrol stations within half a kilometre of each other.

Around 4,000 people have signed a local council petition against the proposed development. 

Borg Manche explained how the original application for relocation has been pending since 1999, and it was only recently that the council had been alerted to it.

We cannot correct a 60-year-old mistake with a bigger mistake

The decision was originally appealed in the environment and planning tribunal, with the case being thrown out. 

The local council persisted and opened another case in the court of appeals, which is still pending.

The council stressed that the environmental impact of the petrol station will be enormous, ruining whatever is left of the garden by polluting it with constant vehicle fumes.

He said the council even had plans to embellish the garden and was going to hand in applications in the coming weeks.