Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1118959
NEWS 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MAY 2019 JAMES DEBONO ALTHOUGH the local plan clear- ly states that the Planning Author- ity should draft a development brief to regulate development on 123,000sq.m of land in Swatar added to development zones in 2006, the PA has no intention of issuing such a zoning plan for public consultation and will instead consider a zoning application presented by the owners of the site. Owners have presented plans which envisage over 11,000sq.m of commer- cial development, 31,500sq.m of mixed residential and commercial develop- ment, and 16,000sq.m of purely residen- tial development on Swatar farmland. The development also foresees student housing and tourism facilities. Build- ing heights for both commercial and residential areas are being set at seven floors. As proposed, the zoning applica- tion also proposes 27,139sq.m of "green spaces" and 26,237sq.m of new roads. The land, which mostly consisted of agricultural land, was added to develop- ment boundaries in 2006 in the contro- versial extension of building boundaries carried out by the Gonzi administration. But development in the area is pres- ently restricted by a local plan policy which calls for a 'development brief' to set development parameters for the area. The brief will have to be prepared by the Planning Authority and not by private developers. According to the local plan, a develop- ment brief should consider "low traffic generating" employment uses in the area with "preference given to ancillary uses and related to the existing Mater Dei Hospital and the University". The provision of a limited amount of student housing is also to be considered. The brief shall also examine the scope for the expansion of the existing private school in this area. A spokesperson for the Planning Au- thority confirmed that the policy regu- lating development in this area (NHMP 13) is still "valid and applicable". But the PA has "not commenced the process of preparing a development brief for the area and, unless directed by Government to do so, the PA does not have the intention to prepare such a brief in the near future". In the absence of a development brief, "the owner/s may apply to set zoning conditions in the area through a Plan- ning Control Applications," the PA spokesperson told MaltaToday. The landowners include S.C. & Co Limited, PD Finance Limited, Paul Vel- la's P&S Ltd, Anton Camilleri's Camcas Ltd, MDA president Sandro Chetcuti, entrepreneur James Barbara and several other individual owners, including the Lands Authority. Residents have continued objecting to the development over the past days. Anna Azzopardi, a Green Party can- didate in next week's local election in Birkirkara, insisted on the protection of the few green enclaves which create a "buffer" between Swatar and Birki- kara and other densely built residential towns. "Let's protect the little we have left," Azzopardi said. No development brief for Swatar – PA The landowners include S.C. & Co Limited, PD Finance Limited, Paul Vella's P&S Ltd, Anton Camilleri's Camcas Ltd, MDA president Sandro Chetcuti, entrepreneur James Barbara and several other individual owners, including the Lands Authority No zoning plan issued for public consultation, with PA allowing owners to present zoning application