News | Sunday, 07 March 2010

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Massive aviation park approved in four days through DNO notice

James Debono
The development of an aviation park spanning 20 hectares on the outskirts of Safi has been approved through a Development Notification Order (DNO): a procedure normally used to approve air-conditioning tanks, internal alterations and temporary structures.
The project is set to host a maintenance hanger operated by SR Technics and was officially inaugurated by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on Wednesday.
The development notification order was presented to MEPA on 12 February 2010 and approved just four days later.
The application envisioned the demolition of an existing hanger and the construction of a new hanger as well as offices and workshops.
The project will also lead to the closure of the existing road leading to Safi, and its replacement by the present taxiway which will be turned into a road leading to Safi centre. This will link the aviation park to the main runway. Part of the Armed Forces of Malta compound in the area will also be relocated.
According to a MEPA spokesperson the project was approved through a DNO as contemplated in a legal notice issued in 2007.
The legal notice exempts development within the parameters of the airport from the need of a full development permit. In 2007 MEPA had also approved the nearby Lufthansa Technique project set over 27,000 square meters of land through a sheer DNO.

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