Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1098850
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MARCH 2019 JAMES DEBONO A local plan already tinkered with twice in the past to allow further de- velopment on a site previously oc- cupied 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 devel- opers 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 ar- chitect about the proposed change and that the matter will be discussed in the next council meeting, follow- ing which the council will be pre- senting its submissions to the PA. The DIY retail complex is being de- veloped by Centre Park Holdings, a company owned by Paul Caruana's Quality Holdings, Anthony Fenech's Tum Invest and V&C Develop- ments, 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 com- munity 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 re- tained 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 Ro- man tomb will be roofed over and integrated within the new complex so that it remains visible to the pub- lic 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 round- about, will be relocated on the roof of the retail centre to serve as a 'secu- rity residence' complete with kitchen and bedroom for security guards. Qormi retail complex will lose landscaped roof POLICY CHANGES JAMES DEBONO DEVELOPERS forked out a total €3.6 million in contributions for de- velopments in St Julian's and Sliema, after failing to provide 1,941 parking spaces between January 2013 and February 2019. During the same period, a total of 855 permits is- sued in the two localities included a contribution to the Commuters Park- ing Provisions System – a fund run by the Plan- ning Authority for con- tributions paid in lieu of parking spaces not being provided with new apart- ment developments. While developers in Sliema paid €445,239 in lieu of the 213 parking spaces which they did not provide for, devel- opers in St Julian's paid €3,126,866 in lieu of the 1,728 parking spaces they did not provide for. The information was provided by Planning Minister Ian Borg in reply to questions by National- ist MP Karol Aquilina. Most of the permits cre- ating the parking shortfall were approved between 2016 and 2018: in these three years 273 such per- mits were approved in St Julian's while 369 were approved in Sliema. In 2018 the Planning Authority introduced a three-tier rate system whereby a one-car space not provided for would cost the developer €2,500. From the third to the ninth car space not pro- vided for on site, the de- veloper has to make a contribution of €6,000 per car space. From the tenth car space upwards, a €10,000 contribution per car space is imposed. While 70% of the gener- ated fees are directed to- wards the locality-based Development Planning Fund, the remaining 30% are directed towards green transport propos- als called the Island-wide Green Transport Fund (IGTF). The new system re- placed fees established in the 1990s, which differ- entiated between those localities which were part of the Commuters Parking Provisions Sys- tem (CPPS) and those that were part of the Ur- ban Improvement Fund (UIF) system. A developer who did not provide parking on site within a CPPS area had to make a contribu- tion of €2,096 per car space which was not pro- vided for. Within those localities which were part of the UIF system, a developer was requested to pay €1,164.68 per car space. Developers pay €3.6 million for failing to provide 2,000 parking spaces