Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1440477
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 JANUARY 2022 JAMES DEBONO THE owners of a petrol station in Ghaxaq want to turn an adjacent plot of agricultural land along Triq Ghar Dalam into a restau- rant with an overlying floor of offices. The site is partly located in an infill plot between the recently extended petrol sta- tion and two existing dwellings and – like most of the surrounding land - consists of agricultural fields. The Environment and Resources Author- ity is objecting to the "unjustified" take-up of "uncommitted agricultural land locat- ed in the ODZ" while acknowledging that much of the site is an infill between existing developments. Moreover, the ERA said the proposed de- velopment, specifically towards the back of the site, would not be limited to the infill space and would encroach beyond the rear alignment of the existing buildings, such that it would result in "urban sprawl onto adjacent land which is currently undevel- oped". Similar concerns were also raised by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, which considers the proposed development as "very intensive and not compatible with the rural nature of the cultural landscape". Petrol station owner John Camilleri sub- mitted the application. The architect of the project is former Labour MP and former chairman of the Building Industry Consul- tative Council Charles Buhagiar. The existing petrol station, which today occupies 2,800sq.m, dates back to 1960. A 700sq.m extension, consisting of a car wash, a shop, offices and basement stores, was approved in 2017 on the basis of a con- troversial fuel station policy which came in force in 2015. A VRT garage was approved in 2020. The current policy approved in 2020 al- lows catering establishments in already -ex- isting petrol stations but bans extensions of existing petrol stations that are located in the ODZ. In this case the restaurant is be- ing proposed on land which never formed part of the petrol station. The policy limits ODZ petrol stations to a maximum of 1,000sq.m. Moreover the take-up of agricultural land for petrol sta- tions is not allowed by the policy. ERA objects to Ghaxaq petrol station's proposed restaurant The site stand between the petrol station and two dwellings JAMES DEBONO AN iconic mid-20th century cor- ner townhouse in Balzan's Triq il-Kbira has been incorporat- ed into the proposed Park Lane development, a 101-apartment complex on the site of the former Dolphin supermarket, owned by a business partner of Mercury House developer Joseph Portelli. An application filed in 2019 by Clifton Attard had already ear- marked the abandoned Dolphin supermarket for a 90-unit resi- dential complex with 2,500sq.m of retail shops. The addition of the townhouse as proposed in a separate application present- ed last month will make way for three more shops at ground floor level and 11 apartments on four overlying floors, one of which will be receded. The townhouse – once the res- idence of former EU commis- sioner John Dalli – was proposed for demolition by former owner Mario Falzon in an application presented in 2017. But following objections by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, the PA issued a permit which incorporated the build- ings' façade in a block consisting of 10 apartments at ground floor, first, second and the receded fourth floor levels. The development never got underway and the property was subsequently earmarked as a Lombard bank branch but that application was later withdrawn. As proposed now, the develop- ment would be one floor higher than the one approved in 2018 and would still largely incorpo- rate the existing façade despite changes to its architectural fab- ric. Presently the facade consists of a two-storey core with a splayed frontage at the corner between the two roads. The core is then flanked on each road by one-sto- rey-high wings. As currently being proposed the wings of the building would be retained up to and including the cornice below the balus- trades. The central core at the splay would also be retained with some minor alterations to accommodate the proposed ad- ditional levels. The rest of the central core will be dismantled and reinstated on the two wings of the building at the same level. This part of the facade will serve as a terrace for the overlying apartments. Before the latest application was presented, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had already objected to the Park Lane devel- opment, saying the 90-apartment complex abutting the town's his- toric centre was "incongruous" with its surroundings. The has been advertised on Portelli's website for the past year, even before plans were pub- lished on the Planning Authori- ty's website, as reported by Mal- taToday last year. The project's architect, Maria Schembri Grima, was appointed chairperson of the Building and Construction Agency in April 2021. Corner townhouse incorporated in Balzan development The former residence of former EU commissioner John Dalli has been incorporated into the Park Lane development bringing the total number of proposed apartments to 101