Road Agency Needed A Permit To Uproot Marsaskala-Żabbar Trees, Lawyer Confirms As IM Withdraws Application
Infrastructure Malta (IM) needed a finalised permit from the Planning Authority (PA) before cutting down trees along Żabbar and Marsaskala, a lawyer has confirmed.
This comes after a number of trees were cut down by Malta’s road agency on Sunday 30th October, while a permit related to the works was still not yet granted by the PA.
Lawyer Claire Bonello confirmed with the newsroom that IM shouldn’t have started the works while there is still a pending application for a permit from the PA.
Although some works can be permitted through a Development Notification Order (DNO), this essentially cannot be done when a PA application is pending.
Up until last week, application PA 04546/20, which was filed in 2020 by Fredrick Azzopardi on behalf of IM, was still pending.
The application detailed the “proposed widening of minor stretches along Triq Wied il-Għajn to include continuous pedestrian and cycling path”.
However, in an interesting turn of events, it has now been withdrawn by the applicant, with the final decision for withdrawal logged today, 7th November 2022.
When asking Infrastructure Malta’s CEO Ivan Falzon why the permit was withdrawn after the trees were felled, he said that this was a “procedural oversight that we’re addressing now”.
It is also interesting to note that the aforementioned trees were practically buried alive under a thick layer of concrete on 29th October 2021, before they were cut down last week.
While previously responding to questions made by Lovin Malta regarding the felling of the trees, the relevant entities all claimed that the necessary clearances had been obtained.
“The Environment and Resources Authority gave its clearance by stating that the trees in question are not afforded protection under S.L.549.123 and a permit is not required to intervene on the said trees,” Infrastructure Malta told Lovin Malta.
“Further to your query kindly note that the Authority can confirm that no works carried out on site required a development permit. The Authority is processing PA04546/20 according to the procedure of law. The felling of trees falls under the remit of ERA,” a spokesperson for the Planning Authority told Lovin Malta.
Speaking with ERA, it explained how “the trees in question are invasive alien species and as such, their removal does not require an ERA permit”.
“The trees removed are Casuarina spp, a species that is included in the Second Schedule of Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations (S.L. 549.123). Their proliferation can affect other indigenous species.”
“ERA is informed that the removal of these trees along the road between Zabbar and Marsaskala forms part of ongoing road works by Infrastructure Malta and ERA recommends that the removal of these trees is mitigated through the planting of indigenous trees in the same area.”
What do you make of this whole ordeal?
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