Applicants for the development of a massive solar farm in Mġarr, which was unanimously rejected by the Planning Authority last month, have filed an appeal. The proposal is for a solar farm on an area the size of six football pitches of agricultural land in Mġarr. The project consists of 5,700 solar panels on the rooftops of 90 greenhouses and covers 44,500 square metres of ODZ land, in an area better known as ‘Tar-Ragħad’, in Mġarr. The project, proposed by Joseph Schembri, of Electrofix Group, received hundreds of objections from the public. The site falls within an area that is designated for its archaeological importance and includes the World Heritage Sites of Ta’ Ħaġrat and Skorba. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee also flagged their concerns about how the project would have a negative impact on its surroundings. According to the solar farm policy, such farms should not take up virgin or agricultural land. A month after the rejection, applicants Schembri and Christian Paul Micallef filed an appeal to the Planning Authority to ‘re-assess’ the application once more. One of the main reasons for the appeal is because the...