No permits required for farm access roads

No planning permits are required for new farm access roads or the upgrading of existing ones when “the works are done by the government, public agencies or local councils” a spokesperson for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority told MaltaToday.  

The MEPA spokesperson also confirmed that MEPA was not involved in the choice of a list of 56 farm access roads which will be eligible for  €6.5 million in EU funding.

To benefit from EU funding the works have to be completed in 2015 “preferably before next June”, a spokesperson for parliamentary secretary Ian Borg, who is responsible for EU funding, told MaltaToday last month.

Although some of the works are being proposed in environmentally sensitive areas, none of the proposed works will require any further environmental studies and MEPA permits.

According to the government spokesperson Transport Malta architects initially had assessed a total of 138 proposals made by local councils.

From this list 24 proposals were eliminated by Transport Malta and another three by the Funds and Programmes Division following further scrutiny.

The criteria justifying the exclusion of projects included the need for further environmental studies, the need for MEPA permits and whether the roads in question were public or not. 

Rural sites earmarked for road upgrading include Raba Nemel, Hofret ir-Rizz and Wied l-Isqof in Rabat, Wied Rini in Bahrija, San Leonardu in Zabbar, Wied Hmir and the existing road between Ta’ Baldu and Wied Hazrun in Dingli.

According to MEPA exemption from permits only applies to cases when the access “is classified as a road” and does not serve other purposes.

Calls for expressions of interest for EU funding for the same purpose issued before 2007 specified that any projects  “deemed ineligible by MEPA”, were “automatically disqualified”.  All proposals had to be reviewed by an architect from the Ministry for Rural Affairs who had to  consult with MEPA in order to identify whether the project  required a MEPA permit or not. If no MEPA permit was required, the works were classified as “ general maintenance” works.

In 2010 MaltaToday had revealed that no planning permits were issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to the Gozo ministry, for the asphalting of 56 countryside passages between 2005 and 2009.

On that occasion MEPA said that all works conducted between 2005 and 2009 were directly related to the maintenance of existing passageways that were damaged either through their daily use, or through the natural elements and therefore did not require a permit.

The development of farm access paths by private individuals is regulated by the policy regulating ODZ development approved in 2014.

According to the policy concrete access paths from roads to arable land holdings built prior to 2004 should be regularized.

The policy stipulates that new access roads to arable land should be built in a way which respects the rural character. It also recommends that in some cases compacted soil is used instead of asphalt.