Qormi retail complex will lose landscaped roof

A local plan already tinkered with twice in the past to allow further development on a site previously occupied by fields opposite the Marsa park-and-ride is being changed again.

This time, it will do away with a public open space on the roof of a new development, to allow its developers to increase building heights by 11 metres along Triq Hal Qormi.

The Planning Authority launched a public consultation on the revision of the local plan with the declared aim of deleting a condition that the roof of the building below Triq Hal Qormi should be allocated for soft landscaping, “to enable the increase of the allowable building heights to 11.4m above the upper road level”.

The PA has already approved the construction of a retail centre on the same site, which included plans for a landscaped area on the roof of the project.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Qormi mayor Jesmond Aquilina said he would consult with the council’s architect about the proposed change and that the matter will be discussed in the next council meeting, following which the council will be presenting its submissions to the PA.

The DIY retail complex is being developed by Centre Park Holdings, a company owned by Paul Caruana’s Quality Holdings, Anthony Fenech’s Tum Invest and V&C Developments, which is owned by Charles and Vincent Borg.

The 2006 local plan had zoned the area as “a soft landscaped area with underlying warehouses” of not more than one storey. The warehousing development also had to have a large landscaped area at roof level.

The zoning of the site had already been changed from warehousing to a retirement complex in August 2013, when the site belonged to another owner.  

Back then, the old corner building on site had to be conserved as a community centre and the area above the development was to be retained as open space. Development was limited to a maximum floor space of 10,800sq.m.  

In 2017 the zoning was changed again from a site for an old people’s home, to one for retail development, and a condition limiting heights to three floors was removed. The two previous changes to the local plan retained the obligation to allocate the roof of the proposed development to a public open space.

The permit for the DIY centre was approved last year and works on the site are ongoing. According to the approved plans an underlying

Roman tomb will be roofed over and integrated within the new complex so that it remains visible to the public as a heritage feature.

Laminated structural glazing will be installed on the upper floor, directly overlying the historic tomb.

And a historic farmhouse on the site where the DIY complex will be built, just off the main Qormi roundabout, will be relocated on the roof of the retail centre to serve as a ‘security residence’ complete with kitchen and bedroom for security guards.