Apartment block earmarked on ‘flood risk area’ in Birkirkara

One of the last patches of greenery separating the town centre of Birkirkara from the showroom area on Valley Road could end up being developed as a four-storey residential block.

The apartment block consisting of seven apartments and ten garages at ground floor level is being proposed on a 50m-long stretch of the road at the mouth of Birkirkara, which presently includes a watercourse, a retaining wall and a number of trees.

A decision on the application is still pending.

Photomontages show that the development, which would be built opposite the VAT Department buildings, will be terraced to mitigate the impact on an adjacent old townhouse, following changes made to address the concerns of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.

A watercourse is also depicted along the pavement along the new building’s pavement.

The site had been safeguarded as a ‘white area’ before 2006, where no development was to be allowed until the approval of local plans. In the local plans the site in question was included in development zones, but indicated as a ‘flood risk area’ and for this reason no building height limitation was assigned for this plot.

Back in 1999, the PA had refused a permit to George Portelli for a showroom with two overlying floors of offices, because the project compromised the watercourse and a high retaining wall at the back of the site, and the area had not yet been zoned.

The PA’s planning directorate had found the development to be “insensitive to the characteristics of the site, which “includes lush vegetation and other features which should be protected.”

A previous application to develop the site was also turned down because the PA appeals board concluded that “the site is the last stretch of green between Birkirkara and Msida that should be preserved.”