164 new residential units at former 7-Up factory site turned down
The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) board today refused a full development application for the construction of 164 residential units at the site of the former 7-Up Factory in Santa Venera.
The Board considered that the proposed internal development was not promoting the creation of a high quality development which is visually attractive and appropriate to its surroundings.
The site, which covers over 7,000 square meters and is located in the heart of Santa Venera with frontages overlooking the main road of St. Joseph High Road in the vicinity of the Wignacourt Aqueducts, Parade Street and Qormi Road was covered by an outline development permit which was issued in 2007.
Mepa Chairman Mr Austin Walker said “The Authority is duty bound to ensure and safeguard our localities from any proposed development which may result in bad neighbourliness.” He added “This proposed development, with such a high density of residential units, could have possibly resulted with the Board endorsing a new slum area.”
The board also refused to grant permission for the proposed construction of a basement warehouse for recycling of metal and tyres in a site that is outside the development zone in Nadur and was previously an illegal scrapyard. The site, which is still covered by an enforcement notice and has already been subject to two direct action operations in the past years, is less than 20 metres away from the nearby residences and surrounded by fields and natural areas.
