Case officer rules out new dwellings along Zabbar cemetery wall

A zoning application aimed at allowing a five-storey residential block immediately next to an existing cemetery in Zabbar is being recommended for refusal by the Planning Directorate.

The local plan approved in 2006 does not allow development on this 1,300sq.m plot of land as this is earmarked for the expansion of the adjacent cemetery.

In a bid to overrule the local plan, applicant Alexei Tabone has submitted a declaration from the Archdiocese of Malta and the Zabbar Parish that they are not interested in any extension of the existing cemetery.

But the Planning Directorate is still objecting because the site earmarked for dwellings is not separated from the existing cemetery by a road as is the case with the existing residential urban blocks surrounding the cemetery. For this reason, the proposed residential zoning is deemed as incompatible with the adjoining cemetery.

Moreover the 5-storey block would visually dominate the existing cemetery and significantly reduce the openness of the area. The case officer is also insisting that the clearance of the Burials Regulatory Authority is needed before the site is rezoned for residential development.

The Burials Regulatory Unit had objected to the development based on the Police Code which states that no cemetery can be built in less than 183 metres from any residential household.

But the developer rebutted that there are at least 13 cemeteries in the Maltese Islands which are located at less than 183 meters from residential development. This is because the law actually bans the development of new cemeteries in the vicinity of residences but does not specifically ban dwellings from being located next to cemeteries.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has also warned that the residential block would result in the creation of extensive blank party walls bearing onto the historic cemetery. On his part the developer has submitted visuals indicating that the proposed residential development will not touch the boundary wall of the said cemetery and will not create blank walls. A final decision will be taken by the PA’s Executive Council on 1 August.