Għarb local council objects to fireworks factory near picnic area

The proposed reconstruction of a fireworks factory whose explosion in 2010 left five people dead, will impinge on public safety due to its proximity to a picnic area managed by the local council.

The picnic area is located just 140m from the ruins of the factory now earmarked for reconstruction in an application published a few weeks ago.

“Since the Planning Authority had authorised a picnic area which inevitably attracts a large number of people, it cannot authorise a fireworks factory so close to it, as this would pose an evident danger to the public,” the local council said in an objection filed on its behalf by lawyers Claire Bonello and Georgine Grech.

The council warned that the factory would be adjacent to the area where it hosts an annual kite festival.

A ring road which provides access to the historical San Dimitri chapel and the picnic area is also in the immediate vicinity. Current rules preclude fireworks factory from a 183-meter radius from roads.

The only exceptions are rural roads, roads which provide access to fields, or roads providing access to the fireworks factory itself.

The objectors complained that the law failed to give an adequate definition of “rural roads” but contend that since the road is asphalted and is used regularly to access different parts of the village, it cannot be categorised as a rural road.

The factory is also 60m away from a Natura 2000 site recognized for its scientific importance in 2019.

The proposed development would take up 3,964 sq.m of land outside development zones on the edge of the locality if it were to be approved. The reconstruction of the factory would take place a mere 250 metres from the chapel of San Dimitri.

In a local referendum held back in 2010 following the tragic accident, Għarb residents had voted against the construction of new firework facilities in the locality.  But over the past years the Planning Authority has approved two new fireworks factories, outside the development zones.