The government will issue a public consultation proposing changes to the fuel station policy in April, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg and Environment Minister Jose Herrera said today, while addressing protestors outside of the Infrastructure ministry.
It's been almost a year since the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) had finalised its review of the fuel station policy.
The review began after calls from environmentalists and PD MP Godfrey Farrugia. The current policy has seen a number of fuel stations relocated, most of which have been at the centre of controversy given the potential uptake of large amounts of land outside the development zone (ODZ). At the end of January 2018, the ERA was asked by Environment Minister Jose Herrera to begin a review of the policy, with the conclusions being published in April. In April 2018, Environment Minister Jose Herrera published the recommendations made by the ERA which, among other things, reduced the size of acceptable applications by a third and modified the distance between allowable station applications. The ERA had proposed that fuel stations should be at least 1.5 kilometres apart. The current distance limit is 500 metres. It is also proposing, among other things, that the footprint be reduced from the current 3,000 square metres to 2,000.
In June 2018, the Planning Authority then began its own review process, however this has either not yet concluded or has just not been published yet. Applications for fuel stations have continued to be processed by the PA since last January, and this situation had led to a few protests by environmental activist.
Today, activists camped outside the Planning Authority marched to the Infrastructure Ministry to present a letter to Minister Borg, demanding that the policy be changed. They were met outside by both Borg, and Minister Herrera, who made the aforementioned announcement.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2UZWwi9
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