A complex of solar greenhouses is being proposed in an area of over 5,000sqm of land in the limits of Xagħra, in what represents yet another application for complexes which have drawn accusations from environmental activists that they merely serve as an excuse to justify the takeover of arable land.
The glass greenhouses with PV panels on top proposed through planning application PA/2555/20 would replace an existing complex of plastic greenhouses facing Triq ta’ Ħamet, one of the main roads leading up to Xagħra’s built-up area.
This first greenhouses on site had been established illegally over 20 years ago, but in 2004, the Planning Authority had sanctioned their construction – and approved the setting up of additional greenhouses on site, overturning the recommendation for refusal made by the assigned case officer.
The same applicant – Saver Grech, a registered farmer – is behind the latest application, which was presented by architect Alexander Bigeni. The planning application describes the plot as having an area of 5,136sqm, and describes Grech as the owner of the entire plot.
The new application seeks to sanction further illegalities – “existing stores and 2 water tanks” – that have emerged on site in the intervening years, and also seeks to construct an electricity substation on site.
The application was published on the Government Gazette this week after finalising screening at the PA, but it has already drawn the objections of one of the NGOs outright opposed to the development of “solar greenhouses” in Malta’s rural land: Din l-Art Ħelwa.
The NGO emphasised its objection to the “further take-up and formalisation of ODZ land through requests that can neither be deemed necessary nor justified and which stand to threaten the integrity of the rural environment.”
“The attempt to legitimise the take up of rural land through the construction of a greenhouse leading to the formalisation of the rural ODZ environment which may act as a possible pretext for future developments and therefore cannot be justified,” it said.
The Agricultural Advisory Committee is also objecting to the plans as they stand, raising questions about whether the PV panels would affect the lighting intensity inside the greenhouse: and thus its capability to actually allow crops to grow. Similar concerns have been raised by NGOs in their objections to various solar greenhouse complexes, most notably a proposed massive complex in Mġarr that was rejected by the PA last year.
The AAC also objected to the construction of a substation, noting that it would increase soil uptake on site. And despite the various clarifications it sought and obtained since the application was filed on March 2020, the AAC confirmed on Wednesday that it retained its previous objections to the project.
The publication of the application now paves the way for a month-long period in which members of the public may file their representations or objections, which expires on 24 February.
A source: https://newsbook.com.mt
