PA recommends refusal of 2.7-hectare solar farm on protected Gozo plateau

The Planning Board will decide on 4 September whether to approve a 27,360sq.m solar farm at Ta’ Kuljat in Żebbuġ, Gozo, after the Planning Authority’s Development Management Directorate recommended the application be refused.

The Planning Authority (PA) said the project would industrialise a prominent rural landscape and conflict with several planning policies.

The site, covering almost four full-size football pitches, lies outside the development zone on an elevated plateau characterised by garrigue, cultivated and uncultivated fields, natural vegetation and rubble walls.

The application (PA/03747/2) was submitted by Kurt Stephen Galea for a photovoltaic installation and ancillary structures.

The site is designated as an Area of High Landscape Sensitivity under the Gozo and Comino Local Plan and is also identified as a Category B valley, with parts of its fringes classified as garrigue.

The case officer said the proposal was unacceptable “in principle”, rather than simply raising concerns about its design.

More than 400 representations have been submitted, including objections from the Żebbuġ Local Council, Nature Trust, the Archaeological Society of Malta, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex and BirdLife Malta.

Objectors have raised concerns about the loss of rural land, industrialisation of the landscape, access and archaeological impacts.

The PA also said the proposal conflicts with the 2021 Solar Farm Policy, which directs commercial solar farms towards locations including large rooftops, industrial areas, Areas of Containment, disused landfills and suitable quarries. The policy excludes such developments from open countryside, scenic areas, garrigue, valleys and areas of archaeological, cultural or scientific interest.

Heritage concerns have also been raised.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage warned the development would occupy a significant part of one of Gozo’s “iconic plateaus” and could affect long-distance views, including views from the Citadella.

The National World Heritage Technical Committee called for a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment to assess the impact on views to and from the Citadella. However, the PA did not request the assessment after concluding that the solar farm was unacceptable at the site in principle.

The Environment and Resources Authority also objected, describing the proposal as an “unacceptable urbanization and industrialization of a prominent rural plateau”.

The case officer said the renewable-energy objective did not override the planning restrictions applying to the site and warned of a negative visual impact on Ta’ Kuljat and its surroundings, “including, potentially, the Cittadella”.