New road to gobble 2,700sq.m of woodland in Pembroke

Infrastructure Malta has presented new plans for the development of a 200m-long ‘residential access road’ which is set to gobble 2,737sq.m of natural land and woodland in the vicinity of the approved and yet to be constructed Chinese embassy.

The new road, which passes through public land, is being proposed along a different route from the one approved in 2012, which was never constructed.

The road had been approved within the 19,500 sq.m area of woodland earmarked for the construction of a new Chinese embassy in the zoning application approved in 2012.

The original road would have taken up 3,435 sq.m of woodland, which according to the published plans is now fully owned by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.

A spokesperson for Infrastructure Malta told MaltaToday that the proposed realignment of the road is part of the ongoing network update, which takes in consideration “the planned developments in the area” and is being proposed “after discussions with relevant government entities”.

Asked whether any steps are being taken to minimise the impact on existing trees and the take-up of undeveloped land in the area, the spokesperson replied that IM is committed “to carefully assess and consider measures to minimise the environmental impact associated with this proposed realignment.”

Plan showing newly proposed road (marked in red) instead of previous plans for road passing through land now owned by the Chinese embassy (marked in yellow

No reply was given to MaltaToday on the reason why the route of the new road has been changed from that approved in 2012, which would have seen the new road passing from land earmarked for the new embassy.

The original plan to develop the residential access road was approved in the zoning application earmarking the 19,500sq.m of land for the development of a Chinese embassy in 2012. The plans for the new embassy development were approved by the Planning Authority 2020.

Back then, the Chinese government had invoked a legal clause in the planning law that prevents the publication of plans which can impinge on the security of banks, airports and buildings related to national security. This makes it impossible to verify whether the land originally earmarked for the access road will be used for other purposes.

As proposed in the latest application the residential access road will link Triq Suffolk to a cul de sac behind the Malta Police Estate passing right by the housing estate blocks overlooking the woodland area.

The approval of the application will result in further loss of the woodland area beyond the area allocated to the Chinese embassy.

The embassy as approved, set on extensive grounds over 19,500sq.m of land, will have a built-up footprint of 3,700sq.m and will rise to six floors. The embassy will have 20 residential apartments and a formal garden of 5,000sq.m.