Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523590
JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JULY 2024 NEWS Attard residents oppose private school Quality Schools International wants rezoning of 5,600sq.m plot of land to build their own school but residents and newly elected Green councillor Ralph Cassar insist that land should be used for sports facilities and future extension of public school 24 years since a sports complex was given planning approval, the area of over 5,600 square metres is now being earmarked for the development of a pri- vate school. But the zoning application, in which Quality Schools Interna- tional is requesting planners to allow the site for the develop- ment of a five-storey school and private open spaces, will be a radical departure from the local plan's current allowances. Originally, in 2000 the Plan- ning Authority had approved the construction of a public sports complex – a football ground, basketball court, tennis courts, and volleyall court on the land between Triq ir-Rużell and Triq Xatbet l-Art. The parcel of land was sub- sequently expropriated only to be released back to the former owners in 2012, a spokesper- son for the Lands Authority told MaltaToday. Only a small portion of land that is still indi- cated as government property and its status is being currently verified. Still, the local plan approved in 2006 and which remains in force, designated the land for the development of a 'sports area', making it impossible for the owners to sell the land on to developers for the construction of apartment blocks. Development on sports areas remains strictly regulated by a specific policy which states that only development that is complementary to the land's function as a sports area, can be allowed. The local plans al- so states that the provision of sports and recreational areas in this part of Malta "is severe- ly lacking" and therefore such land "requires protection from development". But last month, QSI requested that the area be rezoned for its private development – 58% of the land for a five-storey school (3,300sq.m) and the rest be left for "private open spaces" – a radical departure from the local plan which effectively only al- lows sports facilities in the area. The land in question is ad- jacent to the locality's Tumas Dingli Primary School, which is at present struggling to cope with the increase in students from the area. It remains arguable whether the PA can change the designa- tion of the site without chang- ing the local plans themselves. There have been past occa- sions where the PA accepted to change the kind of commercial development envisaged in the local plan, with new uses. One such case involved the Decath- lon store in Qormi, on a site originally earmarked for ware- houses and later rezoned first for a home for the elderly, and subsequently for retail develop- ment. But on other occasions the PA's Executive Council had refused zoning applications in- volving major changes to the local plan, insisting that its re- mit was strictly limited to mi- nor amendments to the local plan such as changes in build- ing alignment. Needs of local school should come first Not all residents are opposed to changing the local plan to reflect present-day education- al needs, possibly by allocating part of the land in question for the expansion of Attard's gov- ernment school and the rest for sports facilities. Noting that developing the The area in Attard earmarked for the development of a private school (Photos: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)