Marsaskala ODZ petrol station to get permit confirmed, despite objections

The Planning Authority board intends confirming a permit for a petrol station of 1,500 square metres, located outside development zones in Marsaskala.

The site, owned by Patrick Guntrip, had its permit approved in 2017 but the PA now has dismissed a call for the revocation of the permit made by a resident and supported by the planning directorate.

Five out of nine PA board members, including chairman Vince Cassar and government representative Clayton Bartolo, indicated that they were against the revocation.

The case revolved around the wrong placement in 2010 of a site notice which was attached to the waste recycling plant – on the opposite part of the road and not on the site of the petrol station. This was evidenced by photos on the PA’s website.

A resident argued that this constituted incorrect information, which resulted in a situation where potential objectors were precluded from doing so as they were not aware of the site. He called on the PA to revoke the permit. “The next door neighbours were never aware of the application. If the notice had been attached on the correct site, they would have objected,” Natalino Caruana de Brincat, the lawyer making the case for the resident, argued.

Former PA chief executive Ian Stafrace, representing the applicant, argued that it was the PA’s contractor who had attached the site notice. He argued that the original application was different and included a smaller plot of land near the recycling plant. Subsequently the application was changed to exclude this site and was republished in newspapers. Stafrace contends that new photos were published on the correct site but no record exists of these photos.

The planning directorate was recommending that the permit be revoked and the application reconsidered to ensure that everyone has a chance to object.

PA chairman Vince Cassar agreed with Stafrace, insisting that the application had followed all procedures, including an EIA which includes public consultation, and therefore the photos had no bearing on the PA’s decision. Deputy chairman Elisabeth Ellul questioned why the wrong placement of the site notice was notified 10 years after it was attached.