News | Sunday, 19 April 2009

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Project for Gozo stables irks Ramblers

James Debono
Gozo’s agriculture department has approved a gigantic stable for commercial purposes, to be developed on public land in Sannat, only after a project for 13 dairy farms on the site was withdrawn by the government after public outcry.
The land in question, Tal-Lewz, is a designated ‘area of agricultural value’. In 2007 the rural affairs ministry withdrew its own application to relocate 13 dairy farms, after being alerted by the Ramblers Association that the development stood on top of the Sannat borehole, and that the site was not earmarked for intensive farming as laid down by the Gozo and Comino local plan.
The Gozo branch of the agriculture department – which falls under Gozo minister Giovanno Debono and not rural affairs minister George Pullicino – is claiming half the land is full of debris, so it found no objection from an agricultural point of view.
But the debris was actually dumped illegally during construction works on an adjacent farm – something the department failed to note – as is confirmed by aerial photos taken prior to the start of the works last year, when the land was arable and tilled.
According to the Gozo local plan, a site of agricultural value cannot be even subdivided, to ensure the continued tilling of the land.
On the other hand, MEPA’s planning directorate is calling for the project to be refused, insisting that “the complete obliteration of the agricultural use of the site surely conflicts with such policy.”
The Ramblers Association has also asked the Lands Department to intervene, given that the land is public property leased for agricultural purposes “and not for leisure activities like stabling,” the association said.
The association proposed the stables to be located beside the Xewkjia racecourse, saying a number of under-utilised stables and unused tracts of land are already available. “Better management of those stables can render revenue to the government,” the association said.
MEPA is expected to decide on this development on 28 April.

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