Planned massive solar farm on Mġarr ODZ rejected
The Planning Authority board on Thursday unanimously rejected a proposal for a massive solar farm in Mġarr that would have taken up arable land the size of six football pitches.
The development application, filed by Joseph Schembri of Electrofix Group, proposed the construction and installation of over 5,700 photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftops of 90 greenhouses.
The project, covering an ODZ site 44,500 square metres in an area known as 'Tar-Ragħad', in the limits of Mġarr, also included the construction of seven inverters and a substation.
The proposed project would have taken up virgin land larger than six football grounds. Photo: eapps
The PA was showered with objections to the project not least because of its detriment on the site's environmental features and the Maltese rural landscape, the intrusive visual impact, the existing archaeological features on site and the large volumes of runoff water that will end in the street.
The board heard how the site, with a mix of cultivated agricultural land and abandoned fields, falls within an area that is designated for its archaeological importance and includes the World Heritage Sites of Ta’ Ħaġrat and Skorba.
The...