Għaxaq could lose festa fireworks if Tarxien’s pyrotechnic factory gets green light

Għaxaq’s band clubs Għaqda Mużikali San Guzepp and Għaqda Mużikali Santa Marija have warned that the approval of a brand new fireworks factory in the il-Ħbula area in Ħal-Għaxaq could spell the end of fireworks displays in their village, due to the loss of a site used for the letting of fireworks during the locality’s two feasts.

The Planning Authority board is set to decide on the proposed fireworks factory proposed by Tarxien’s pyrotechnic society on 3 February, after a technical committee certified that as proposed the factory abides to all safety regulations.

The 9,000sq.m site where the factory is proposed is outside development zones in the limits of Għaxaq, 250m away from the Santu Kristu chapel.

Għaxaq’s St Joseph band club, which dates back to 1919 and has 640 members, has pointed out the factory stores are being proposed just 83m from a site used to let off fireworks for the Għaxaq feast. The society warned that storing explosives in the vicinity of a site used for letting off fireworks could result in incidents like the 2016 Marsaxlokk incident, which left four people seriously injured.

The society insisted that it had already relocated its firing site from the Tal-Ġebel area, due to sprawling development in the locality and further relocation is impossible. “Since no alternative exists, the issue of this permit would indirectly mean the closure of Għaxaq’s own fireworks factory which has operated since 1919… with approval resulting in the loss of an integral part of the feast and the loss of the heritage traditions which form our identity.”

And while supporting the issue of new permits for fireworks factories to preserve this tradition, this should not entail the loss of firing sites used by established fireworks organisations, the society warned.

The St Mary band club also noted the irony of approving the fireworks factory which threatens the locality’s feast, while Malta is seeking world heritage recognition for its fireworks displays.

The Għaxaq local council is also objecting to the proposed factory, not just because of its impact on the firing site, but also because it poses a high risk to residents, industrial buildings, two chapels and a cemetery with religious and historical significance, and an active agricultural community that surrounds the site.

The application by Tarxien’s Għaqda tan-Nar San Gabriel foresees the development of a brand-new fireworks factory on a 9,000sq.m agricultural site.

A case officer originally recommended the application for refusal in 2013, but the decision was postponed, pending the approval of a new policy regulating fireworks factories, which was approved in 2014.

The application was also given the thumbs-up by an ad hoc technical committee of experts, set up to assess the safety aspects of new fireworks factories.

The committee noted that over the past years, the proposal had been continuously revised in order to comply with all relevant regulations in a way that would minimise the risk and dangers within the perimeter of the proposed fireworks factory.

Enemalta had also objected to the proposed fireworks factory in 2013 and in 2017, but dropped its objections after committing itself to remove overhead electricity lines in the area.

The development is recommended for approval because the 2014 policy allows new fireworks factories on dry, agricultural land if these are granted prior approval by the ad hoc committee, which includes the Civil Protection Department, police and the army.

The nearby chapel can accommodate over 100 people but is located outside the 183m radius from habitable areas in which new fireworks factories are forbidden.

And although a house and some other structures are located within the radius, at law “inhabited places” are defined as aggregations of houses inhabited by over 100 persons.

While acknowledging the “further intensification of development within an ODZ area” as well as the take-up of good agricultural land that could compromise an Area of High Landscape Value, the Planning Authority’s case officer recognised that the factory cannot be located within building zones, for safety reasons.

And the existing policy also allows ODZ fireworks factories, unless the area is recognised as an Area of Ecological or Scientific Importance.

The fireworks factory structures are based on required specific distances between stores, processing rooms and other structures, the criteria of which are determined by the technical committee.

The PA’s own advisory committee on agriculture objected in principle, but since the fireworks factory policy permits factories on dry agricultural land, the committee proposed the imposition of a planning gain to be used for the rehabilitation of agricultural land.