Planning Authority approves 275 apartments in disused Naxxar Quarry

The Planning Authority has approved 275 residential units on the site of a disused quarry in the Sagħjtar area of Naxxar, towards Mosta.

The development, submitted by developer Charles Camilleri, will consist of five separate seven-floor blocks on the site of an abandoned quarry, with three levels of basement garages on the corner of Triq Censu Muscat, Triq Manwel Magri and Triq it-Tin.

The development was approved by nine votes against two.  The only board members voting against were NGO representative Romano Cassar and the Naxxar mayor Christopher Deguara.

Cassar lamented the fact that no social impact assessment was presented for a project of these dimensions. 

The council’s main concern was the height of the development within such close proximity of the existing dwellings.

The ‘medium-rise’ development is based on the application of the Floor Area Ratio mechanism through which developments can rise above a town’s height limitations if a substantial part of the site is retained as an open public space. In this case, a public square is being proposed at the eastern edge of the site.

The Planning Authority had already issued an outline permit in 2008 which permitted even bulkier development.

The development was recommended for approval by a PA case officer despite concerns by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, which called for further changes in the positioning of the new blocks to minimise the impact on the skyline, particularly on views from Attard.

The development will have 337 underground garages and 98 other parking spaces.

The abandoned site had been used for quarrying up until the 1970s.

The development was recommended for approval by a PA case officer despite concerns by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, which called for further changes in the positioning of the new blocks to minimise the impact on the skyline, particularly on views from Attard.

The PA’s development management directorate replied that, the building height of the project had already been established in the outline permit.

The development is subject to a planning gain of €167,714 which will go to the Planning Authority’s Planning Fund which finances embellishment and urban improvement works in the locality affected.

Johann Buttigieg, the PA’s CEO, did not intervene in the meeting with proceedings being entirely led by board chairman Emmanuel Camilleri.

Another meeting scheduled for today involving the reconstruction of the Hagar Qim restaurant was deferred on the request of the applicant’s architect who announced that plans were being revised in view of discussions with UNESCO.