Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506906
NEWS 16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 JAMES DEBONO THE prospective Eurospin super- market off Aldo Moro Road in Marsa will also have a drive thru fast-food restaurant with an over- lying four-storey shopping mall. The proponents are the own- ers of the Salv Bezzina shipyard, whose demolition was approved in May. The 1,400sq.m supermarket will be accompanied by a mall with a 220sq.m retail footprint, and a 485sq.m restaurant. The owner says in their project development statement that they will keep 45% of the site undevel- oped, limiting heights to 11m in- stead of the maximum 29m. They say the redevelopment will result in "large open spaces and aesthet- ically pleasing materials and de- sign" that will benefit the area, at present enclosed by high walls and structures. The site is zoned in the local plan for the development of show- rooms and offices, and while there is no reference to supermarkets or retail areas for this area, the Plan- ning Authority case officer assess- ing the proposal has concluded that a supermarket in areas out- lined for commercial uses "is an accepted concept". The permit was assessed using the PA's 'Interim Retail Plan- ning Guidance', issued in 2004 and which subjects these appli- cations to a retail impact assess- ment. However, this assessment "was considered futile consider- ing the site location and the zon- ing of the area", the case officer said. Access to the supermarket will be from Aldo Moro Road, while a secondary access point linked to Triq il-Labour will be used solely for scheduled delivery of merchandise. A traffic impact assessment found no envisaged significant impacts resulting from the expected traffic generation on the junctions studied, and that the proposed access was adequate for the expected trip generation and distribution. Shopping mall added to Marsa's Eurospin Mall and fast-food drive thru proposed on former Salv Bezzina shipyard next to Eurospin supermarket A file photo of a Eurospin supermarket in Slovenia. The supermarket chain is expected to develop its first outlet in Malta at the Bezzina Shipyard site with the landowners now proposing the addition of a mall and fast-food drive thru alongside the supermarket