Fuel pump will be built over ‘good agricultural land’ in Burmarrad ODZ

Yet another fuel service station, again set outside development zones in Burmarrad, is set for approval under a controversial policy whose review started one year ago but was never finalised.

Despite the policy’s ban that petrol stations be sited on “good quality agricultural land”, the Planning Authority’s planning directorate is still recommending the approval of yet another ODZ fuel station, on land whose value was certified by the PA’s agricultural advisory committee.

The committee based its assessment on a report on soil quality presented in an Environment Impact Assessment in March 2018, which found the fields had the potential to sustain two to three crops per year, generating annual potential earnings of up to €11,000 per tumolo.

But in his report, the PA’s case officer replies to concerns on the take-up of agricultural land by referring to a clause in the existing policy, stating that petrol stations can be approved in ODZ areas in cases where the community would benefit from the relocation of an existing fuel station, and where the site proposed for relocation does not give rise to unacceptable adverse environmental concerns.

The case officer noted that the applicant had reduced the fuel station’s footprint from 3,770sq.m to 1,680sq.m.

The final decision is due on 11 April but the case officer has called for the approval of the petrol station.

The application, presented by Vincent Bonnici, is to relocate a small kerbside pump in Burmarrad itself to a larger site at the edge of the hamlet, 113 metres south of the Burmarrad development zone. But in the 1990s the PA had twice rejected similar applications by the same owner, since the area in question is designated as a rural conservation area.

Now the PA case officer is claiming that development is acceptable because it is in line with the intentions of the Fuel Service Station Policy. “The proposed fuel station may be considered positively since the community would benefit from the relocation of an existing fuel station both in terms of safety and good neighbourliness.”

An environment impact assessment had concluded that the impact on landscape character was of major negative significance for the rural character of the area, since the proposal will introduce an element out of character with Burmarrad’s rural environment.

The Environment and Resources Authority has repeatedly objected to the project.

Bonnici says the relocation will alleviate traffic congestion caused by the kerbside fuel service station, particularly during refuelling by road tankers. An application for the construction of a supermarket was also recently presented on an adjacent plot of land. But this application was suspended upon request by the applicant. In 2017 the PA approved a brand new 3,000sq.m fuel station located 1.2km away in Burmarrad.