Watch: Birżebbuġa Residents And NGOs Call For Miniature Airstrip Plan In Wied Żnuber To Be Scrapped
A number of environmental organisations, together with Birżebbuġa residents and activists gathered today to express their disapproval at the miniature airstrip plan which was recently proposed for Wied Żnuber.
The residents and farmers who are keen on protecting Wied Żnuber, are shocked at plans announced on 12th February for a miniature airstrip by the valley and the cliffs of the area.
“We are determined to oppose the plan until it is scrapped,” Moviment Graffitti said in a statement.
“This project will continue to burden the south by robbing it of the ecologically sensitive and socially important sites of Wied Żnuber and surrounding areas.”
“We, therefore, call for the immediate dissolution of the plan and a change in the Local Plan that would see the site become an ODZ. In this manner, it can act as a buffer zone between the industrial area and Wied Żnuber.”
Plans for the airstrip were announced at the signing of an agreement between the government agency INDIS and an airplane model association.
The project was planned in secret and escaped public consultation but is expected to have major environmental and social impacts.
Official plans have not been published and an application for development is yet to be filed but indications are clear that the airstrip would cover 44 acres of natural and agricultural land; the equivalent of seven football grounds.
The proposed site being a garigue would also require extensive landfills to accommodate a long tarmac strip and clubhouse. The loud and incessant noise of model remote control airplanes would drastically increase light and noise pollution in the area and destroy the serenity of the valley and surrounding cliffs.
The site is also home to a number of historical remains including a dolmen, a military shelter, ancient water canals and prehistoric recipients used in burial rites. Under British rule, the site was fenced off to protect the dolmen.
The site in question is cited in the Local Plan as part of an industrial area. This does not reflect the true conditions of an area located right by the valley and the surrounding cliffs. All development applications on this site have so far also been rejected.
Organisations which participated in the demonstration are, Għaqda Storja u Kultura Birżebbuġa, ŻAK Birżebbuġa, 12th Birżebbuġa Girl Guides, Moviment Graffitti, BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Extinction Rebellion Malta, and The Archaeological Society Malta.
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