Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1519725
16 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 APRIL 2024 JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt OPEN CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS Extension of Deadline With reference to the announcement of Call IV under the European Regional Development Fund issued on 22 nd October 2023, the Managing Authority responsible for the ERDF/CF/JTF 2021-2027 Programme is further extending the deadline for the submission of projects under Priority: 3. PO 4 - ERDF: A more social and inclusive Europe implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights, RSO 4.5. Ensuring equal access to health care and fostering resilience of health systems, including primary care, and promoting the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care (ERDF). The deadline shall now be Thursday 6 th June 2024 at noon. For further information, the Managing Authority can be contacted via email at fondi.eu@gov.mt. A planning application is pro- posing the demolition of the Villa tal-Kokka in Nadur and its substitution by 34 resi- dential units with underlying garages and three swimming pools. As proposed the development will include a ground floor, two overlying floors and a receded upper floor. Although located within the development zone, the 2,635 sq.m villa area is located on a ridge edge overlooking the zone outside development, which is protected by local plan policies that demand "special consideration" to the design of building elevations. Moreover, developments on ridges must blend with the "ar- chitectural elements found at the urban edge of Gozitan set- tlements". Building heights in these are- as are limited to 12.3m, as pro- posed in the application. The application follows the approval of a zoning applica- tion last year which changed the designation of an area around the existing villa dwell- ing that had a 40% site cover- age, into a normal residential area with no restrictions on site coverage. NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa had warned the change in zoning will lead to an increase in de- velopment density that fails to respect the existing context. The Planning Authority's case officer admitted that rezoning would "inevitably result in an intensification of the area." But the change in zoning was instead deemed acceptable since all adjacent houses to the north, west and east of the site had been zoned in the same way. With the visual impact on the ridge edge mitigated by a front garden, this was deemed to act as a buffer between the residential development and the ridge edge. Gozitan NGO Għawdix is ob- jecting to the latest Nadur ap- plication, insisting that a bet- ter quality design is required on the boundary between the development zone and the out- side development zone. "Regrettably, the proposed development falls short of meeting these aesthetic stand- ards," the NGO said, calling on the PA to uphold the integrity of the streetscape by "reducing the scale of the development and selecting an architectural style that is more in harmony with the area and respectful of the local architecture." Nadur's Villa tal-Kokka could be replaced by 34 flats Four-storey block proposed on ridge's edge where local plan requires high quality-design that blends well with surroundings The 2,635 sq.m villa in Nadur is located on a ridge edge overlooking the zone outside development