The Agriculture Advisory Committee has called for compensation for the loss of cultivated land to a new link road between Żabbar and Kalkara.
The committee chaired by James Gauci is an officially-appointed panel tasked with advising the Planning Authority on development applications affecting farmland.
The committee reiterated its objection in principle to any development in outside development zones (ODZ) that does not directly serve agricultural purposes.
However, should the project go ahead “in the national interest”, the committee said it would recommend approval only if compensation for the agricultural land lost is imposed.
The panel suggested the compensation could take the form of replanting and maintaining an equivalent stretch of disused land, not arable land, with endemic or local fruit tree varieties, such as olive trees. Trees should be planted at four-metre intervals, and the reclaimed site should remain accessible to the public.
The Planning Authority is not obliged to accept the recommendations of the AAC even if its suggestions have to be considered in its assessment of the project.
600 objections filed
More than 600 objections have been filed with the Planning Authority against the project. Activist group Moviment Graffitti described it as a threat to Malta’s rural and cultural fabric.
Campaigners have highlighted the historical and architectural importance of the area that will be affected. The planned route runs close to Notre Dame Gate, the Cottonera bastions, the Capuchin Convent, and several scheduled structures.
But Żabbar Mayor Jorge Grech told MaltaToday in an interview last month that the council agreed the road is necessary following discussions with the Kalkara council and the central authorities.
He lamented that the project was presented by authorities in a bad way. “A two-kilometre road was described as ‘a new road’; it’s not the case. From 2,000 metres, 100 metres will be taken from agricultural land. The rest is already open; not only that, it will be improved. There will be more trees, cycle lanes, and more secure roads. Right now, that area is laden with illegal dumping as it is dilapidated,” Grech said.
Justification for the new link
Government is presenting the new road as a traffic relief measure, designed to redirect cars away from residential zones in Kalkara, Birgu, and Żabbar. The connection will provide direct access to Smart City.
Among the projects planned at Smart City are a primary and secondary school, a private hospital, the Institute of Tourism Studies, and the American University of Malta campus. The latter was relocated from Żonqor Point in Marsaskala as part of an agreement reached between government and AUM. The land transfer was approved by parliament in 2022.
The AUM land transfer agreement also obliged government to build the new road connection linking Bieb is-Sultan in Żabbar to the Capuchin Convent in Kalkara, providing a direct link to Smart City.
Smaller footprint than 2007 proposal
While the present road proposal has sparked criticism, the project represents a scaled-down version of earlier road plans. Back in 2007, authorities had floated a 643-metre road that would have carved through the Tal-Fata agricultural area, requiring the take-up of some 14,500sq.m of farmland—considerably more than the land earmarked today.