Shopping mall added to Marsa’s Eurospin

The prospective Eurospin supermarket off Aldo Moro Road in Marsa will also have a drive thru fast-food restaurant with an overlying four-storey shopping mall.

The proponents are the owners of the Salv Bezzina shipyard, whose demolition was approved in May.

The 1,400sq.m supermarket will be accompanied by a mall with a 220sq.m retail footprint, and a 485sq.m restaurant.

The owner says in their project development statement that they will keep 45% of the site undeveloped, limiting heights to 11m instead of the maximum 29m. They say the redevelopment will result in “large open spaces and aesthetically pleasing materials and design” that will benefit the area, at present enclosed by high walls and structures.

The site is zoned in the local plan for the development of showrooms and offices, and while there is no reference to supermarkets or retail areas for this area, the Planning Authority case officer assessing the proposal has concluded that a supermarket in areas outlined for commercial uses “is an accepted concept”.

The permit was assessed using the PA’s ‘Interim Retail Planning Guidance’, issued in 2004 and which subjects these applications to a retail impact assessment. However, this assessment “was considered futile considering the site location and the zoning of the area”, the case officer said.

Access to the supermarket will be from Aldo Moro Road, while a secondary access point linked to Triq il-Labour will be used solely for scheduled delivery of merchandise. A traffic impact assessment found no envisaged significant impacts resulting from the expected traffic generation on the junctions studied, and that the proposed access was adequate for the expected trip generation and distribution.