Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar highlights the fact that on Thursday 10th November 2011, the MEPA Board will again be discussing and taking a decision on the Housing Authority’s application for the building of 46 apartments and garages in a beautiful valley at Luqa.
The site, part of which was included in the 2006 Rationalisation Plans, is full of protected carobs and dry stone walls. Ironically, facing the valley are rows of unsold new apartments. The application was previously deferred owing to strong evidence submitted by Civil Aviation Authorities regarding the unsuitability of the site because it is situated within the Public Safety Zone (PSZ) of Runway 23 as defined by the Civil Aviation Directorate and only about 460 metres from the safety threshold.
The Public Safety Zone aims to control and limit the number of people on the ground in a high-risk area in the event of an aircraft accident. The basic policy regulating the restriction of development near Civil Airports is that there should be no increase in the number of people living, working or gathering in PSZs and that over time the number of people on the ground should be reduced and not increased.
In its reply to MEPA’s request that MIA provides a list of conditions to be included in order to approve the development, MIA contended that this would amount to automatic sanctioning of development in an area of known public risk, which would be “conducive to arbitrary and imprudent dismissal of the envisaged public risk at this site by MIA”
In view of this, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar maintains that the planning application should be refused by the MEPA board. While it may not be within the remit of the MEPA Board to make decisions regarding social housing on behalf of the Housing Authority, there is no question that wise planning is entirely MEPA’s responsibility. In view ofMalta’s over 76,000 empty units and our increasing flooding problems, MEPA should prioritise the use of existing vacant housing units and actively discourage the building up of more of Malta’s valleys. This is especially true of a government authority which should be setting an example of sustainable development.