Jason Azzopardi asks for parliament’s environment committee to discuss Fuel Station Policy review

The PN’s environment spokesperson also called on the committee’s chairman to invite Moviment Graffitti, given that they have taken an active role in calling for the policy’s review

Public consultation on the new policy ended on 19 June
Public consultation on the new policy ended on 19 June

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi has requested that parliament’s environment committee to discuss the revision of the controversial fuel stations policy.

Back in April, the Planning Authority published for public consultation a revised version of the 2015 policy, which paves the way for mega fuel stations to be built outside the development zone.

The new policy stipulates that even pending applications should be approved under the new restrictive policy, which effectively bans the construction of petrol stations on agricultural land and which only permits 1,000 sq.m fuel stations on committed land that is outside the development zones but not used for agriculture.

In his letter, Azzopardi, who is the PN’s spokesperson on the environment, noted that the last time the policy had been discussed by the committee was in April 2018.

He noted that the period of time within which the public could make its representations to the Planning Authority ended on 14 June.

“Given that in the meantime, applications are still being processed by the PA on the basis of the existing 2015 policy, and since there nothing stopping these applications from being decided on the basis of the 2015 policy, I believe the committee should discuss this and inform us about when this revised policy will come into force,” Azzopardi’s letter read.

He said that out of respect for Moviment Graffitti, which had called for a moratorium until the revised policy has been implemented, representatives from the NGO should also be invited to the committee.

Reacting to the proposed changes in the policy, Graffitti had said it was “cautiously optimistic” about the proposed changes, pointing out however that there were still some points of concern, which they made known to the Planning Authority.

READ MORE: Call for moratorium on fuel station decisions until new policy is approved