Heritage panel suggests underground parking for Ta’ Pinu complex

The call by MEPA’s heritage panel (NHAC) comes after the church responded to criticism by scaling down the size of the car park by half.

Originally the proposed car park was to occupy an area comparable in size to a full size football pitch (6,405m²). Now the proposed car park will occupy half that area (3,064m²).

The NHAC said an underground parking “will do away with any negative visual impact of the car park and retain the soil surface for suitable landscaping.”

Earlier on this year the committee had described the development of the shrine dedicated to the apparition of the Virgin Mary as “one of the largest Outside Development Zones (ODZs) developments the panel has ever been asked to comment on.”

It added that the “uptake of so much agricultural land” was unacceptable. But despite being reduced in scale the proposed car park could still be in breach of planning policies, because half the proposed car park lies outside the area earmarked for car park facilities in the local plan, the committee is now saying.

In fact the Gozo and Comino Local Plan, designates the Ta’ Pinu shrine as a Site of Special Religious Significance (SSRS) and calls for the rationalization of the parking facilities within the site. But the NHAC says half of the proposed car park lies outside the SSRS.

The committee is still objecting to the façade of the proposed retreat house, which it had described as “visually obnoxious.” The design is still considered inappropriate, jarring considerably with the architecture of the shrine and the rural setting in which it is situated, “creating a significant negative visual impact”.

While expressing full agreement with the proposal for the replacement of alien trees along Ghammar Hill with indigenous ones, the panel is objecting to the resurfacing of the hill with “a layer of compacted sand and gravel.” This type of surfacing is considered inappropriate given the considerable amount of water which comes down this hill during the winter months, leading to the erosion of such surfacing.

The redesigned Visitors’ Centre, now incorporating toilet facilities and the Police Station, is considered as a great improvement on the original submission.

Ta’ Pinu’s shrine has attracted pilgrims since 1883, when Karmni Grima, 45, heard a call while passing by a rural chapel on her way back home from the nearby fields. She claimed the voice which had come from the image of the Blessed Virgin in the same chapel. In the 1920s, a decision was taken to build a monumental sanctuary to accommodate the crowds, and in 1932 the new Church was blessed and opened to the public.

The area is mostly agricultural land owned by the church, with the only existing buildings being a public convenience, a tourist information shop, and a small, old building.