Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1093354
NEWS 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MARCH 2019 JAMES DEBONO BORMLA mayor Alison Zerafa Civelli has called on the American University of Malta to allocate half of the parking spac- es included in plans for an underground carpark to be reserved for residents. The Planning Authority is currently as- sessing plans for the extension of the uni- versity's campus consisting of an addi- tional floor on the Knights' building and three new buildings in Bormla's Dock Number 1 area. While the council has made it clear that it is not against the proposed develop- ment, it said that it is "very concerned with the impact on the traffic flow" that this project will have on Bormla. "The acute parking problem in our city is a reality which cannot be ignored. We believe that the above development will increase this problem to unprecedented levels," the mayor said in submissions sent to the Planning Authority, which is currently assessing the application. The council has called on the develop- ers to present a Traffic Impact Assess- ment. The council is also calling on the Au- thority to give Bormla residents "free and unencumbered access" to two levels of underground parking, reserved solely for the residents of Cospicua. Staff employed with American University of Malta, stu- dents lodged in the Accommodation Building above the St Paul's car park or any other building falling under AUM's responsibility, are to be precluded from using these levels. "This means that a minimum of 90 parking spaces (50%) in the multi-level underground parking would be reserved for our residents. Should the plans be modified to increase the amount of park- ing spaces in the underground parking area, the parking spaces to be reserved for our residents should be increased pro-ra- ta," the council said. The council also wants that the areas in the multi-level underground parking to be reserved for Cospicua residents, are put under CCTV surveillance, regularly cleaned and properly maintained at all times. The council also insisted that Cospicua residents be given free and unencum- bered access to the street level parking spaces in Triq il-Karmnu, Bormla. Out of the 41 parking on street spaces proposed by the developers, the Council insists that "only 50% of these spaces shall be re- served for AUM staff and students". The PA's Design Advisory Committee, which advises the authority on design is- sues, has also expressed its concern on some aspects of the proposed project, particularly on the height of an accom- modation building proposed on the car- park in St Paul's Street: "This building is too high and has a negative impact on the skyline." The application foresees the construc- tion of a modern stand-alone administra- tive building, set over five levels between the British and the Knights building, and a new wing for the Knights building along Triq 31 ta' Marzu, also set over five levels. Developer Sadeen Education Malta has also applied for the excavation of the ex- isting surface car park in Triq San Pawl, and the construction of a multi-level underground parking with a four-storey student accommodation building above. A year ago the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had called for changes to plans warning that "as proposed, the church's main features will no longer be visible from the water's edge level and along Triq Dom Mintoff," according to a memo sent by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage to the Planning Au- thority. In August 2016, Sadeen was awarded a permit to allow the development of a campus on the site of the British build- ing in Dock 1 in Cospicua. This was ap- proved by the Planning Authority despite the lack of a master plan for the whole site. Half of AUM's parking spaces should be given to Bormla residents, mayor says Sadeen was awarded a permit to allow the development of a campus on the site of the British building in Dock 1 in Cospicua in August 2016