Commercial centre proposed instead of law courts in Gozo’s Rabat Square

Pjazza l-Assedju ta’ Ghawdex in Victoria has now been earmarked for the development of a four-level underground car park with an overlying floor of commercial space topped by a roof garden.

The development is being proposed in a planning application presented by the Gozo Regional Development Authority.

The commercial floor is set to include shops, catering establishments, exhibition halls, and educational facilities.

Plans for the proposed development

The square, which currently serves as a car park, was previously identified for a similar underground car park topped by the relocated Gozo Law Courts, which suffers from structural and accessibility issues.

The law courts were first proposed for the site in an application presented under a PN-led administration in 2008.

The permit for the construction of the law courts on the same site was finally issued in 2016 and was last renewed in June. However, the government has since had a change of heart regarding the location of the law courts, and in 2022, a Preliminary Market Consultation for the building of a new courthouse in Gozo was issued in a bid to find a new site.  In its electoral manifesto the Labour Party is committed to find a new site for Gozo’s law courts.