Marsaskala council objects to Lay Lay development

The Marsaskala local council is objecting to the addition of 59 apartments on the Lay Lay complex, by increasing the building height from the current four floors to eight, claiming that it will exacerbate parking problems in the locality.

The standalone 2,600sq.m complex is composed of a series of blocks and is located in a densely populated area of Marsaskala.

In its objection, the council pointed out that no extra parking can be allotted to this development since the new apartments will be added to existing building.

Moreover, the council insists that in this case the Planning Authority’s imposition of financial compensation from projects which fail to provide parking spaces, will not solve anything “because the parking problem in this area is already acute”.

A resident objecting to the development pointed out that residents are already parking their vehicles up near St Thomas Beach. Moreover, the large number of apartments in such a small area is already exacerbating problems related to garbage collection, parking, and noise pollution.

Although the problem was somewhat eased after the government opened the school parking to residents, the situation could be aggravated yet again with the influx of more people living in the new 59 apartments. “Having around 59 apartments more would mean more chaos as hundreds of new people move in an area which definitely can’t take it,” the resident said.

The local plan sets a height limitation of four floors plus semi-basement in this area, which translates into a building height of 22m. The PA will however have to consider the predominant height of buildings in the area, and ensure that the development respects the topography of the site, which has two sloping streets.

The current building was originally approved in the 1980s as a summer residence complex. A permit was issued in 1999 for the conversion of its 84 units into 40 three-bedroomed apartments. A request for an extra storey was refused in 2022.

A permit for an underground supermarket on the same site, granted in 2013, was last renewed in 2019 but the development has not yet been carried out.