Developers drop plans for controversial supermarket at Burmarrad

Plans by Bonnici Brothers for a supermarket on a 6,870sq.m plot of agricultural land along Burmarrad Road in the intersection with Triq is-Sardin, have been dropped. 

The plans had generated controversy and a large number of objections by NGOs like Moviment Graffitti and also by the Environment and Resources Authority and the St Paul’s Bay local council.

ERA had described the development as “unacceptable” as it would have introduced an urban type development for commercial uses outside the buildling zones.

Furthermore, it also pointed out that the presence of the parking or storage area on part of the plot should not be used as a pretext for further intensification and commitments on this site.

Apart from these environmental considerations, ERA said there was no justification in taking up agricultural land to have a supermarket in an area which was already served by at least two nearby facilities.

Apart from Scotts Supermarket, which is 750 metres away, Burmarrad also hosts the Piscopo Cash and Carry, just five minutes away by car, the environment watchdog pointed out.

Controversy grew further after Infrastructure Malta, then led by Frederick Azzopardi, had presented plans for a new roundabout at the intersection between Triq is-Sardin and Triq Burmarrad. The supermarket plans originally presented in 2018 were reactivated in 2020 following the announcement of the roundabout plan. Moviment Graffitti had accused IM of presenting its plans to favour the supermarket development.

But IM insisted that the roundabout at the corner with Is-Sardin Road, located next to the proposed supermarket, was needed as a traffic-calming measure as road users approach the residential area of Burmarrad.

IM said the roundabout will reduce accident risks along this 2.5-kilometre road and its junctions “with nearby arterial, residential and rural roads”, noting that these crossroads are “accident black spots with a history of collisions and serious consequences to road users, especially due to the lack of measures discouraging overtaking and speeding.”

The roundabout plans which would impact on old reservoir are still awaiting a final decision by the PA. 

The supermarket was being proposed next to a petrol station, approved by the Planning Authority in 2018, but which is yet awaiting the appeals verdict of the Environment and Planning Tribunal. The EPRT had originally dismissed the appeal claiming that Moviment Graffitti had no right to appeal because it had not registered its objection to the development with the PA. But the courts overturned this decision.