Labour MP accused of plagiarising fuel pump planning documents

The scramble for land for a petrol station in Burmarrad, which has seen two rival companies vying for a permit on adjacent plots of land, has taken a new twist after the environmental consultant of one of the petrol stations accused architect and Labour MP Charles Buhagiar, of copying parts of a planning document presented to the Environment and Resources Authority.

Environmental consultant Joe Doublet called on the law courts to declare that a planning document describing the potential environmental impact of a petrol station in Burmarrad, as having breached his copyright.

In a judicial protest filed earlier this month against Charles Buhagiar, his architect’s firm Med Design Associates, and the petrol pump applicants Easysell Kia, Doublet called on the defendants to cease and desist from the continued breach of his rights and reach a mutual agreement on damages payable to him.

Earlier this year, Construction & Turnkey, a company owned by Joseph Attard and Anthony Ciappara, filed a Planning Authority application for a fuel station, using the project description statement Doublet penned for the project.

Doublet claims that the copy filed by Buhagiar and Med Design for Easysell Kia, was so blatant that it even reproduced his own typographical errors and contained cross-references to a design that were only found in the original document.

Two letters, sent to the defendants in June – the latter warning that legal action would be taken in default – had not been acted on and the proposal had been submitted anyway, he adds.

Failure to comply with the demands within four days of notification would result in legal action for damages, the judicial protest warned.

The proponents of the two petrol stations are car dealership Easysell Kia, owned by entrepreneur Anthony Fenech, and Construction & Turnkey.

Charles Buhagiar, who is also paid from the State to act as chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council, denied the allegation of plagiarism.

“I cannot reply at length to your query since I have not been to my office. However I strongly deny all allegations made and do not like to comment on this issue since it is sub judice.”

Construction & Turnkey is at a more advanced planning stage, with the developers having already prepared an Environment Planning Statement (EPS). Easysell have also been instructed to prepare an EPS.

On the other hand Easysell have so far only presented a Project Development Statement, a preliminary document sent to the Environment and Resources Authority before the latter takes a decision on whether the project should be submitted for an EPS or not.

So called ‘ODZ petrol pump stations’ are today big business since a new planning policy allowed the transfer of licences from smaller, urban petrol pumps to larger pumping stations on motorways outside development zones. 

Both proposals however consist of entirely new ODZ petrol stations and not the relocation of existing ones from an urban area.

But the Planning Authority does “not normally permit” – as policy states – a petrol station within 500 metres of an existing fuel station in the same direction of traffic.

The PA may still favourably consider fuel stations opposite each other, if it can be demonstrated that traffic on the opposite lane from the existing petrol station cannot easily access it.

The two petrol pump stations are being proposed on adjacent parcels of land on Burmarrad Road

This alone suggests that prior approval of one petrol station will result in the refusal of the other. 

Apart from encouraging the relocation of petrol stations from residential areas, the new policy on petrol stations allows brand new, 3,000 square metre petrol stations on ODZ sites near industrial areas.  

An exception is made for ODZ petrol stations on sites designated as “areas of containment” – which are meant to create a transition between the countryside and industrial areas. These can be even larger than 3,000 square metres.   

As it turns out, Construction & Turnkey’s petrol pump is adjacent to the area of containment, while the one proposed by Easysell is itself located in the area of containment.

ERA objections

Both the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and the Agricultural Advisory Committee have objected to the petrol station proposed by Construction and Turnkey. 

The ERA objected to the take-up of “undeveloped rural land” and referred to the impact on short distance views. The AAC insisted that it objects to any development on agricultural land. 

Construction & Turnkey’s EPS refers to the “shortage of modern fuel stations in the location” and the need to “cater for the demand of fuel due to the ever increasing number of vehicles on the roads” even if it refers to two fuel stations (Dad’s and Nick’s fuel stations) found opposite each other around 500m north, on Mosta Road.  

Until recently the abandoned agricultural area was covered with wild flowers and patches of wheat and cereal, probably originating from seeds left over from previous cultivation or carried by the wind from neighbouring fields.  

The soil has already been cleared to enable the developers to conduct an archaeological survey. The archaeological investigations supervised by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage did not yield any discoveries on site.  

According to the terms of reference the soil was to remain stored on site “for possible reinstatement” once the investigation is completed.  The EPS reveals that the development will have a marked impact on the panoramic view from Triq l-Imdawra.

The Easysell project 

The development proposed by Easysell is set to include a service station, a car wash, an office and a retail shop.

As brand new petrol stations, these can be located either within, or opposite and adjacent to so-called areas of containment, which are ODZ areas where low-level industrial activity or storage is allowed.  

They are meant to create a transition between industrial or tourism areas, and rural areas: in Malta there are 33 such ODZ sites designated as areas of containment. They include parts of Bahar ic-Caghaq, Burmarrad, the Hal Mann site in Lija, various parts of Mdina Road, St Leonard Street in Zabbar, Tal-Balal in San Gwann and part of Hal-Farrug road.  

Over the years the PA refused three applications to construct a boundary wall around the site, as this was not deemed to be essential for agricultural purposes. 

An application presented by Easysell’s Anthony Fenech to enclose the car wash area with a wall was also refused in 1995. The decision was confirmed by the appeals board in 2000. The proposed development consisted in the placing on the site of a ‘car wash machine’ and a ‘mobile office’ on the abandoned field.

The Appeals Board had noted that the site had been excavated without the necessary permission, and that the excavated material was left lying on the site, which consequently started being used for illegal dumping.

Similar applications were refused in 1999 and 2002. 

The site of the proposed petrol station is now part of a rural conservation area but is also adjacent to a storage area, designated as an “area of containment” in the 2006 local plan. And an enforcement against the illegal construction of a wall has been pending since 1997.