ERA demands landscaping plan for Montekristo but no impact study

Faced with a fait accompli, the environment watchdog has concluded that no studies are required to assess the impact of regularising the illegal works at Montekristo Estate.

In this way, the sanctioning of one of Malta’s largest-ever illegal developments has cleared another hurdle with the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) only asking for a landscaping plan.

The application to sanction the family park, which includes a zoo, equestrian facilities with spectator stands, clubhouses, horse event preparation areas, and a so-called museum, dates back to 2010.

Part of the Montekristo Estate

Montekristo Estate is owned by the Polidano Group of construction magnate Charles Polidano.

The application is limited to the family park, covering an area of approximately 45,379sq.m, and does not include the winery, bottling plant, and vineyard area, which spans 118,647sq.m and is the subject of a separate sanctioning application presented in 2009.

A Project Description Statement submitted by Polidano’s consultants, ADI Limited, acknowledged the loss of agricultural land to make way for the illegal family park and zoo area. In their report, ADI—an environmental consultancy—called on their client to compensate for the extensive take-up of agricultural land by “converting disturbed land in his ownership within or adjacent to the Montekristo Estate, or by proxy elsewhere on the island, to agriculture.” The consultancy also recognised that the development contributed to the urbanisation and formalisation of what was previously a rural landscape.

In its own screening report, the ERA does not address the legality of the development and does not propose any mitigation for the loss of agricultural land. It merely documents the historical development of the site, starting from 1998, when the area was entirely agricultural.

According to the report, the most intensive phase of development occurred between 2008 and 2012, during which fields to the south-west and south-east of the bottling plant complex were cleared and pathways created. The car park, the outdoor and indoor equestrian arenas, and the southern end of the animal park were completed by 2012. The animal park was later extended northwards, taking up more fields by 2016. Moreover, between 2016 and 2018, further clearance and hard surfacing took place in areas south of the bottling plant complex.   

The animal park has no planning permit. The only permit ever issued, back in 2005, was for demolishing a pig farm and building a winery with a nearby vineyard. A later extension was also approved.

The ERA concluded that the project does not warrant a full EIA, stating that, in line with Regulation 15 of the EIA Regulations, the potential environmental impacts of the proposal are not considered significant enough to require a detailed assessment. Regulation 15 governs the screening process to determine whether a proposed project’s effects merit a full EIA.

Although no EIA is being requested, the ERA is requiring the submission and implementation of a landscaping plan, including the installation of “movable planters in the car park area”, and a method statement for the removal of invasive alien species across the entire estate.

The landscaping plan must be submitted and approved by ERA prior to any replacement planting. It should also include operational management practices for collecting rainwater and surface water to avoid runoff into Wied Sillani, as well as the use of permeable materials to allow water to percolate into the water table before any resurfacing works begin.

ERA is also requesting a lighting plan for the entire estate, including mitigation measures to reduce light pollution. This plan should also account for any external temporary lighting fixtures.