The Swieqi local council has come out against a planning application proposing the construction of an elderly home on land located outside the development zone in the locality.
The application for an outline development permit, by Joseph Mangion, seeks the construction of a nursing home on six levels, one of which being a recessed floor, and three basement levels off of Triq Sant Andrija. The site is located in Wied Mejxu. The site is listed as vacant land.
Plans that were updated in October show that the application would cater for 80 beds.
The site is next door to an apartment block, that also saw construction on ODZ land. The application processing is currently suspended at the architect’s request, the PA website reads.
“ODZ is ODZ and there can be no compromise,” the objection letter by Swieqi Mayor Noel Muscat, on behalf of the local council, reads. “Malta simply cannot continue eating up its countryside to accommodate commercial projects which could be located within urban areas marked for Development. The Planning Authority should no longer tolerate the invasion of construction into our shrinking open space, particularly where this space is not scheduled for development by the Local Plan. ODZ cannot be sacrificed in order for a developer to make money out of it at the expense of the residents. ODZ is there to be protected and enjoyed, even from outside its borders if it is privately owned.”
The council highlights that while the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development appears to allow the possibility of building a nursing home outside the development zone, it sets clear restrictions on this. “Socio-Economic Development Thematic Objective 2 seeks in Paragraph 1 the principle of ‘guiding the location of new social and community facilities within the urban area, and where no other feasible alternatives exist allowing consideration within appropriate locations in the rural areas …’ In this case, there is absolutely no reason why a nursing home cannot be located within the development zone where diverse ‘feasible alternatives’ exist. There is no necessity to locate the proposed project ODZ.”
The council also points out that the site in question is “certainly not an appropriate location”. It states that the site is not only ODZ, but is at the bottom of a valley, a green lung within the town of Swieqi “whose population is set to multiply significantly over the next few years as a result of planning permits issued for a multitude of residential apartments.”
“The fact that mistakes have been committed in the past when the Planning Authority permitted limited intrusion of development into ODZ land does not justify furthering of these mistakes. The sentiment of the people, of the Government and of the Authority itself in 2024 has changed from that in years past, so let’s move on and do things properly, in the interest of the general good of the population.”
Among other arguments, the council said that the applicant is now proposing a building height of 6 floors (including set-back floor) on the side of the lane off Triq Sant’ Andrija and 4 floors on Triq Wied il-Mejxu. “The Council questions how these heights can be justified, since no height limitations for ODZ spaces are established by the Local Plan. The Local Plan gives no indication of building heights because there should be no building ODZ, and therefore the building height should be zero metres.”
The council described the application as “disgraceful,” and said that there is no innate need for a nursing home to be located in this area “when other appropriate sites exist, and that therefore this application is to be dismissed.”
Despite the updated plans, the Environment and Resources Authority has maintained its previous concerns. “ERA has concerns vis-à-vis this proposal from an environmental point of view, due to the fact that the proposal is located in area ODZ within the valley of Wied Mejxu. Urban-type developments, which are unrelated to rural activities, are to be limited to the allocated areas in the development zone to avoid further built-up and intensification of such uses within areas ODZ.”
A resident who spoke to this newsroom also said that the site should not be built on given that it is in a green lung, and fears that the intensification of development on the ODZ land will only lead to even more development. There are also concerns that the construction will cause problems given the location of the site in a narrow alley and construction and service trucks will cause disturbance and inconvenience.
The application filed is for an Outline Development Application. An Outline Development Permission, if granted, is an approval in principle of the full development subject to a number of reserved matters which would need to be included in a full development permit application, which would have to be filed by the applicant anyway. An outline development permit would override any future policy which might conflict with the project.