Birżebbuġa residents and farmers, accompanied by activists, have called for the plans of a miniature airstrip in Wied Żnuber to be scrapped.
A press conference held on Saturday by those involved in the protest described the shock at the plans which ere announced on 12th February. The plans include the construction of an airstrip by the valley and cliffs of the area in an agreement between government agency INDIS and an airplane model association.
The protesters said the project was done in secret without public consultation, and is believed to have major environmental and social impacts. The activists said that official plans have not been published and an application for development is yet to be filed. However, indications are clear, they said, that the airstrip would cover 44 acres of natural and agricultural land (around seven football grounds).
Requiring extensive landfills to accommodate a long tarmac strip and clubhouse, the project would also increase incessant noise of model remote control airplanes which would compromise the serenity of the valley and cliffs.
This would also have impacts on habitats of threatened species of bird, the Scopoli’s and Yelkouan Shearwaters as well as threaten historical remains such as a dolmen, a military shelter, ancient water canals and prehistoric recipients used in burial rites.
It was said that an alternative site could be found for the project which would have less of a negative impact on the people and the environment. According to the activists the site is cited in the Local Plan as part of an industrial area, which does not reflect the true conditions of an area located right by the valley and the surrounding cliffs.
‘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’ they said.
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Photo Source: Moviment Graffiti