Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1467738
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MAY 2022 ENTERPRISES MAY BENEFIT FROM AN INVESTMENT GRANT OF UP TO PER PROJECT €50,000 REGENERATION.MALTAENTERPRISE.COM REGENERATION@MALTAENTERPRISE.COM SUSTAINABLE DIGITALISATION WATER EFFICIENCY ENERGY EFFICIENCY WASTE MINIMISATION SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS TEL. NO. 144 'More trees' requested for care home invading countryside JAMES DEBONO A design panel from the Planning Authority wants more vegetation and trees to mitigate the undeniable visual impact of a new old people's home, sited outside the develop- ment zone. The 60-bed home in Għargħur is being proposed by landowner Mar- lon Brincat of CE Group, who is al- so Labour's minority leader in the Naxxar council, instead of a disused animal farm, and is located just 200m away from the Golden Care home, also approved ODZ in 2017. Naxxxar now hosts the Hilltop Gardens retirement village, the Simblija care home and the Holy Family home. The PA's design advisory com- mittee, which scrutinises designs in sensitive areas, said the new home's visual impact will have to be miti- gated by more trees and "a better articulation of the facades may pro- vide more interest in the massing. The drawings and visuals should be updated accordingly," chair Dr Da- vid Mallia said. The development's photomontag- es indeed show the marked impact on the surrounding landscape as viewed from Triq Andrea Debono, presently dominated by the Mitħna tal-Laqx and the Semaphore Tower right behind the farm. The developers believe the der- elict animal farm is "committed", apart from being surrounded by urban pockets of residences. Five years ago, they claimed in a project statement the home would have a positive visual impact, thanks to an enhancing landscape scheme. The Environment and Resources Authority had objected to the pro- posal in 2020, reiterating its posi- tion against turning rural buildings and land into non-farming uses, as these encourage urban sprawl out- side building zones at the expense of countryside. Transport Malta also noted the shortcomings due to road safety, and accessibility to the site for both drivers and pedestrians. The application lay dormant since then, but has been reactivated with the revised plans and photomon- tages. Already in 1997, the PA refused the previous owner's application for a garage development, given its site as a rural conservation area. Care home instead of disused livestock farm in Għargħur- Naxxar countryside to have undeniable visual impact Before, and possibly after... the care home proposed in the fields between Gharghur and Naxxar