Applications for fuel stations outside development zones that could have been headed towards approval may find a more difficult road ahead under a revised planning policy just published for public consultation.
The Times of Malta analysed pending applications and found that nearly all would breach provisions in the new fuel stations policy, under which they will be assessed if they are still there when the policy comes into effect.
Implementation, however, is at least months away. Should the applications be decided before then, they would benefit from assessment under the more permissive 2015 policy, which first opened the door to the controversial practice of relocating from urban cores to much larger ODZ sites.
Pending applications in Birżebbuġa, Żebbuġ, Marsascala and Attard would all seemingly need to be reduced in size by about a third to fit within the new policy’s maximum footprint of 1,000 square metres, compared to 3,000 square metres in the 2015 policy.
Other applications in Żebbuġ and Mqabba, meanwhile, may fall foul of a new restriction on ‘new’ fuel stations being built on ODZ land. The new policy permits only relocated stations, meaning an urban facility would...
