Tal-Wej landowners object to Natura 2000 zoning

Three landowners are contesting a decision by the Environment and Resources Authority to designate the ecologically rich Tal-Wej area between Mosta and Naxxar, as a Natura 2000 site.

The landowners, which include former Nationalist health minister Louis Deguara, are represented by lawyer and government consultant Robert Musumeci. They filed an appeal against the designation of Tal-Wej as an Area of Ecological Importance, which would form part of the EU’s network of protected sites and obtain greater protection through the drafting of a management plan.

The ecological and archaeological importance of Tal-Wej, which is outside development zones, is self-evident and has already been recognised by the authorities who have over the years granted various levels of protection to the area, including a 2011 scheduling of the freshwater rock pools and adjacent buffer zones.

The area is also listed as a Class A archaeological site, forming part of a wider cultural landscape that includes cart-ruts, dolmens, ancient quarries, rock-cut tombs, corbelled huts and a 16th century chapel dedicated to Santa Margherita.

But three landowners, namely Joseph Camilleri, Louis Deguara and Leonard Vella, have filed an appeal against the designation, claiming they were denied a right of fair hearing when the ERA designated the area as a Natura 2000 site in September.

The inclusion of Tal-Wej in Mosta and Has-Saptan in Birzebbugia in the network of EU protected sites was first announced by Minister Aaron Farrugia in March, scientifically justified by the presence of temporary freshwater rock pools, which are rare in the Maltese Islands.

These habitats support unique communities with species like the Maltese Horned Pondweed, unique to Malta, and the Maltese Waterwort, a species confined to the Maltese islands and the nearby Pelagian Islands. These pools also support populations of the otherwise very rare Tadpole Shrimp.

Environmentalists who have objected to past attempts to develop the area welcomed the decision. All landowners had been informed about the scheduling of the site in a letter sent by ERA in July.

But the landowners claim they were not given any information on the scientific, social, cultural and policy considerations, which led to the selection of the site as a Natura 2000 site. They complained that they were not given a “standard data form” containing this information.

No rockpools on my property, insists Deguara

Contacted by MaltaToday, Louis Deguara, a former health minister and Nationalist MP, insisted that the farm plot he owns in the area is between 400-500m away from the protected rockpools and is bounded by two roads and an already developed area. “I have nothing against the protection of the ecologically important areas but there are no rock pools or cart ruts on my plot which is even devoid of soil…”

When it was pointed out to him that zoning of ecologically important areas normally also includes buffer zones to prevent development encroaching on the protected areas, Deguara replied that an area closer to the rock pools was included in the extension of boundaries undertaken in 2006 by the PN led government. “Construction has already taken place in close vicinity of these rock pools… far closer than my own plot which is around 400m away.”

Deguara said he felt his plot was unfairly kept outside development zones in the 2006 extension by the then-PN government, adding that it does not make sense to end the scheme with a blank wall, as is presently the case.

In 2018 speculation on a prospective extension of building boundaries in Tal-Wej was fuelled by a mysterious advert on a property website – which has since been removed online – describing a 2,750sq.m plot of land located just outside the building scheme as “an investment opportunity since it is adjacent to (building) scheme and with plans to be in rationalization for development of terraced houses and villas”. The land was given a €1.8 million price tag.

This coincided with a request to the Planning Authority by John Mary Micallef for the removal of topsoil over a 2,800sq.m in the protected Tal-Wej area, which was withdrawn in February 2018.

The controversial request was made under the pretext of an archaeological investigation but the developers did not state their intentions for the site known as Tal-Wej, Triq is-Seneskalk and in the vicinity of another plot added to the development zone in 2006. The designation of the entire Tal-Wej area as a Natura 2000 will put an end to speculation on any further tinkering with development boundaries in the area.