Watch: Former MP Leads Mġarr Residents Against Proposed Solar Farm As Developer Files Appeal
Former Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo gathered Mġarr residents and farmers to protest against a solar farm that has been proposed on a large swathe of agricultural land in the northern town.
“A few days before the election, the Planning Authority refused the application, and the applicants appealed as is their right,” Vassallo said. “However, in the name of families, farmers and residents and everyone who cares about the environment, the same reason this project was rejected is the same reason the appeal should also be rejected.”
Insisting that the land should remain as it is, Vassallo expressed his concern that approval of this solar farm could open the floodgates for development in the area near the hamlet of Żebbiegħ.
The solar farm, proposed by Electrofix owners Joseph Schembri and Christian Micallef, would have seen thousands of solar panels erected on a large tract of agricultural land. It proved to be extremely controversial among residents in the area and was shot down by the Planning Authority on 3rd March.
As it stands, the Rural Policy does not allow solar farms on agricultural land, and it suggests that they are ideally constructed in abandoned quarries or roofs.
However, the developers are trying to go around this requirement by stating in their appeal that the solar panels will be built on greenhouses that will be used to grow “extensive amounts” of crops, as well as snails, for sale.
Their argument is that the project’s main goal is to reinvest in agriculture and have even said they are ready to accept conditions to ensure that the solar panel activity will cease if the agricultural activity ceases.
Should Malta have any large solar farms?
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