Wied Moqbol fate to be determined again by rebuked board

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s Environment and Review Tribunal will on Tuesday rehear an appeal against its refusal in 2005 for a quarry in agricultural land in Wied Moqbol, a valley in Zurrieq.

In December 2014, the MEPA appeals tribunal had revoked a previous decision not to issue a permit for a quarry in the picturesque Wied Moqbol valley - taken by MEPA in 2005 and by a different appeals board four years later in 2009.

The Tribunal was subsequently rebuked by Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti for not sticking to its role, that of enforcing policies, and was ordered to hear the case again.

The original application, first turned down in 2005, was for the relocation of a quarry from Hagar Qim to Wied Moqbol in Hal Far.

The site at Wied Moqbol in Zurrieq is designated by the South Malta Local Plan as an agricultural area. The policy clearly states: “MEPA will continue to protect agricultural land from all types of inappropriate development. Within agricultural areas, as indicated on the relevant Environmental Constraints Maps, only buildings, structures and uses essential to the needs of agriculture will be permitted”.

Moreover, the nearby Wied Moqbol is designated as a Special Area of Conservation of International Importance under the Natura 2000 programme, in view of the importance of the species as well as archaeological remains found there.

In 2014, the MEPA appeals tribunal recognized that the development would result in the “loss of rural characteristics” like rubble walls and trees. However, it also concluded that the impact on agriculture was temporary as the quarry can be rehabilitated once the stone resource has been exhausted.  

It also observed that the development will be compensated by the rehabilitation of quarries in the vicinity of the Hagar Qim monuments.

“This means that the development will not result in the loss of agricultural land,” the tribunal argued.  

The tribunal that issued the controversial permit is composed of Labour candidate and lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, Freeport chairman and private architect Robert Sarsero and planner Martin Saliba.    

However, Mr Justice Chetcuti has lambasted their decision.

“Instead of applying policy as it is obliged to do, or at most referring to other policies which may be adopted, the tribunal chose to base its decision on other considerations, such as the value of agriculture,” the judge said.

The court also made it clear that the tribunal can only make an interpretation of a policy when the same policy allows room for interpretation.

But in this case, the policy included in the local plan designating the area as an agricultural zone was not open to any such interpretation.

The court argued that a tribunal could not use its arbitrary power to change the designation of a site included in the local plan.

Objectors to the application are contesting the developer’s claim that he will be re-allocating the quarry from the Hagar Qim area, insisting that these quarries were exhausted after 60 years of quarrying. They are also insisting that the land earmarked for the quarry is similar to the agricultural land in the surrounding area.