Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1485769
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 NOVEMBER 2022 JAMES DEBONO A brand new supermarket beckons, proposed on the Dun Karm Psaila 'Birkirkara' bypass outside development zones on 5,500sq.m of land. The land is owned by Ja- son Pace, the same agricul- tural plot once earmarked for a Lidl supermarket in 2015 but later withdrawn. Both environmentalists and the Malta Developers Association had protested against the ODZ develop- ment, with former MDA boss Sandro Chetcuti com- plaining about the uneven playing field for those op- erators buying premium in development zones, while others acquire cheap ODZ land. The proposed supermar- ket will be metres away from another major four-storey office block, proposed on an existing townhouse and its extensive gardens which lie outside the development zones. Both projects abut on the narrow, rural Sqaq it-Tiġieġ alley. And the Birkirkara by- pass is already the site of another proposed super- market and 27-apartment block, on a 4,000sq.m plot next to the Scan outlet, this time within the building zones. Although sandwiched be- tween Birkirkara and the San Gwann industrial area and Mater Dei hospital, the ODZ status of the area cre- ates a buffer between the two densely urbanised lo- calities. The Planning Authority's own policy regulating su- permarkets shows a pref- erence for supermarkets located inside, or at the edge of town centres, to minimise car use, aimed at encouraging multi-pur- pose trips and making su- permarkets accessible by public transport. But be- tween 2006 and 2008 the PA had still controversially approved two Lidl super- markets outside the devel- opment zones in Luqa and Safi. ODZ supermarket returns on Birkirkara bypass The proposed supermarket will be metres away from another major four-storey office block, proposed on an existing townhouse and its extensive gardens which lie outside the development zones. Both projects abut on the narrow, rural Sqaq it-Tigieg alley