Residents, Mayor And Activists Flock To Wied Żnuber To Fight Against Proposed Airstrip
Birżebbuġa residents and activists gathered in Wied Żnuber on Sunday for a site visit of the area which is currently being threatened by plans for a miniature airstrip.
The mayor of Birżebbuġa, Scott Camilleri, also joined the event and called for the protection of Wied Żnuber.
Activists insisted that plans are to be withdrawn immediately and that the area around the valley should be designated ODZ as promised by Prime Minister Robert Abela last March.
The informative walk saw natural historians and history experts address the value of this place which consists of precious historic remains such as the prehistoric dolmen and the military shelter as well as the protected fauna and flora of an increasingly endangered habitat – garigue and rock habits where rainwater ponds form.
The site is also adjacent to a Natura 2000 site where shearwaters nest and serve as a buffer zone between this protected site and surrounding factories.
The current airstrip plans are posing a massive threat on the agricultural land of the area, with the application being a sizeable one, set to take up six football grounds worth of garigue and arable land.
The airstrip project will destroy the garigue and fields on which it will be built but will also break the serenity of the area with light and noise pollution.
The project was concocted in secret and without public consultation and was announced around three months ago at the signing of an agreement between the government agency INDIS and an airplane model association, with no time allocated for public consultation.
A group of sixteen local NGOs are also united in the fight to save Wied Żnuber, appealing for the plan to be withdrawn immediately.
On March 17, during an activity in Birżebbuġa, Prime Minister Roberta Abela stated that no development will take place in Wied Żnuber, and that the area around the bottom of the valley will be turned into an ODZ.
This project is proposing a miniature airstrip in the area, set to take up six football grounds worth of garigue and arable land.
Residents and associations are therefore calling on the Prime Minister to honour his word and ensure that no development takes place in Wied Żnuber and that the part around the bottom of the valley becomes ODZ. This necessarily means that plans for a miniature airstrip are withdrawn.
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