Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1502123
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JUNE 2023 Qawra regional health centre to serve the northern region JAMES DEBONO A regional health centre is be- ing proposed in Qawra on land currently used as a car park in the vicinity of the Mavina, San- tana and Euroclub hotels. The proposed centre will in- clude an underground car park for 864 cars, and a public open space. This emerges from a Project Development Statement pre- pared by the Foundation for Medical Services, a govern- ment entity, as part of the plan- ning process. The new building housing the health centre will spread over a footprint of 3,500sq.m and will rise five floors. The two wings of the building will be connect- ed by a glazed atrium with an H-shaped layout. The development will require the demolition of an existing 360sq.m skate park and of sev- eral British era military struc- tures. The current 4,300sq.m sur- face car park which accommo- dates 120 cars will be replaced by four basement car park lev- els accommodating 864 cars. The Northern Regional Hub is intended to serve the needs of a catchment area compris- ing the localities of Bugibba, St Paul͛'s Bay, Mellieha, Mosta, and Rabat. The Northern Hub like the Southern Regional Hub in Po- ala, will be providing 24/7 out- patient health services in the community offering speciality services such as dental care, cardiology, day care surgery, sexual health care, ultrasound, bone densitometry and echo- cardiography. Providing these services in these regional hubs is meant to offload services from Mater Dei Hospital, thus reducing waiting times. A Transport Impact Assess- ment estimates that the pro- ject will generate an average of 1,715 extra daily car trips to this area in Qawra. The project is also expected to create ap- proximately 138,000 cubic me- tres of excavation waste. All of the existing trees and shrubs will be removed to ac- commodate the development. These include a line of mature palm and fig trees and two protected trees – an Aleppo Pine tree and a Cypress tree. But the loss of these trees will be compensated by new trees in the open space surrounding the health centre. The open space will also in- clude a large water feature but will not include a new skate park to replace the existing one. The area is zoned in the lo- cal plan for tourism purposes including hotels,restaurants, bars retail outlets as well as mixed use developments with a residential component. In 2004 the site had been pro- posed for residential and com- mercial development by Mal- tacom plc. But the application was later withdrawn. The Project Development Statement states that the en- tire site is now under the own- ership of the Health Ministry through a lease agreement. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has recom- mended that the one storey high military structures found along the southern boundary of the site are integrated in the project because of their cultur- al heritage value. But the Foundation for Med- ical Services rejected this pro- posal insisting that the reten- tion of these structures "will jeopardize the proposed urban design including the planned landscaped open public spac- es". According to the Project De- velopment Statement these structures will be demolished in their entirety. Plans for a regional health centre in Qawra foresee an underground carpark for 864 cars • Will serve residents in Bugibba, St Paul's Bay, Mellieha, Mosta, and Rabat