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Safi farmland annexed to airport The government has issued a legal notice to annex agricultural land in Safi, to the airport perimeter, a site where planning permits can be issued through Development Notification Orders – the fast-track permit normally issues for minor developments like washrooms and air-conditioning units.Development within the airport perimeter has been exempted from full planning permits since 2007. The first phase of a new aviation park by SR Technic has only been just approved in the space of four days through a DNO. But the permit did not cover development in the surrounding agricultural fields. The new legal notice will ensure that subsequent permits on agricultural land can also be issued by the DNO procedure. In the meantime, the government has terminated leases on five agricultural tenements – covering 21,790m2 of land in Karwija (Safi) – which have now been added to the airport perimeter. “Our aim is to facilitate the investment in an aviation park capable of supporting the further growth of the aviation industry, while creating the required critical mass for further local and foreign investment in this industry,” a spokesperson for parliamentary secretary Mario De Marco said. When asked why agricultural land was also being incorporated in the airport’s perimeter, the spokesperson replied that the aviation park’s infrastructure, taxiway and runway “has to take place within the airport perimeter.” The government spokesperson justified the development of the aviation park on agricultural land arguing that “this results in the direct creation of hundreds of jobs.” The legal notice has closed a loophole in existing legislation which failed to define the extent of the airport’s perimeter when excluding this land from normal planning requirements. “The perimeter of the airport is now clearly delineated. Consequently it is now clearer as to what falls within or outside the perimeter of an airport,” the spokesperson said. Any comments? |
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Managing editor Saviour Balzan | Tel. ++356 21382741 | Fax: ++356 21385075 | Email
Managing editor Saviour Balzan | Tel. ++356 21382741 | Fax: ++356 21385075 | Email