A proposed ”industrial-scale,” ground-mounted photovoltaic solar farm on Ta’ Kuljat Hill, Zebbug, Gozo, is being ”strongly objected” to by the Coalition for Gozo.

The Coalition, made up of Din l-Art Helwa (Ghawdex), Ghawdix and Wirt Ghawdex, warned that ”the project on – PA/03747/26 – which would cover around 27,360m², almost four full-size football pitches, would be built on an exposed hilltop in open countryside within an Area of High Landscape Sensitivity and mapped garrigue habitat. A substantial part of the development would be placed directly on this protected garrigue.”

The Coalition for Gozo said that while they are not opposed to renewable energy, they insist that solar farms should be located on rooftops, industrial areas, landfills, quarries, or other already disturbed sites, not on protected countryside.

”The applicant claims that no new access route is required, but the existing path is a narrow country path, less than one metre wide in places, and cannot accommodate construction traffic, heavy machinery, or the transport of photovoltaic panels,” the Coalition for Gozo said. ”Any realistic access solution would require intervention on agricultural land and rural infrastructure.”

The Coalition noted that the proposal would also require cables, poles, trenching, and National grid-connection works, while security and maintenance lighting would introduce light pollution onto a currently rural hilltop.

The Coalition for Gozo also warned that ”the project risks scarring Ta’ Kuljat Hill, damaging agricultural land, fragmenting an intact rural landscape, and setting a dangerous precedent for Gozo’s other flat-topped hills.”

Furthermore, they said that the application conflicts with planning policies protecting Areas of High Landscape Sensitivity, garrigue habitat, possible archaeological discoveries, hydrological systems, and rural land. ”It is also incompatible with the Solar Farm Policy 2021, which directs solar farms away from virgin land, agricultural land, open countryside, garrigue, and areas of high landscape sensitivity.”

The Coalition pointed out that the Planning Authority has previously refused a comparable proposal, PA/03090/17, because it did not satisfy the Solar Farm Policy. ”This proposal departs even further from the applicable policy framework.”

The Coalition for Gozo urged the Planning Authority ”to reject PA/03747/26.”

The public is encouraged to submit an objection to the Planning Authority here: https://www.pa.org.mt/en

Photo Coalition for Gozo: Ta’ Kuljat with solar panels location

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