Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1537913
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27JULY 2025 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Żvilupp Sostenibbli 1 ta' Awwissu | 6PM 'il quddiem Park ta' San Klement Ħaż-Żabbar Dħul b'xejn ERA objects to Naxxar ODZ home despite floor removal THE environment authority is objecting to an elderly care home in the rural outskirts of Naxxar, warning the develop- ment would still have a signifi- cant visual impact. A permit issued in 2023 to Marlon Brincat, a developer and Labour councillor in Naxxar, had foreseen a home consisting of a basement level and three overlying floors. Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħel- wa had appealed the decision and the Environment and Plan- ning Review Tribunal revoked the permit in February 2024. The tribunal directed the PA to re-examine the application from the stage preceding the case officer's recommendation, allowing the developer to revise and resubmit the plans. A downscaled application, re- moving the fourth floor, is now being recommended for approv- al by the case officer, and a final decision by the Planning Board is due next Thursday. The care home would be replacing a dis- used single-storey poultry farm. Curiously, the case officer re- port was presented before the Environment and Resources Authority issued its recommen- dation. The latest plans submitted by Brincat also envisage a re- duction in the number of beds from 60 to 46 and the number of rooms from 47 to 40. While the Planning Directo- rate has concluded that the re- moval of the uppermost floor is "acceptable" and in line with the Central Malta Local Plan, ERA remains unconvinced. In its assessment, ERA ac- knowledged that the removal of the top floor reduces the visual intrusion into the landscape but insists that the visual impact on the rural surroundings remains significant. It also reiterated key concerns it previously raised—includ- ing the uptake of rural land, the conversion of countryside to urban use, and the intensifi- cation of development outside the development zone (ODZ). "In this regard, ERA reiterates such concerns and its objection from an environmental point of view," the authority said. Should the project be ap- proved, the developer will be re- quired to contribute €49,925 to the Planning Authority's Plan- ning Fund as a non-refundable planning gain, down from the €61,900 imposed when the orig- inal application was approved. The reduction reflects the decrease in floorspace. These funds will be earmarked for en- vironmental improvement pro- jects in the locality. The development is being pro- posed on land between Naxxar and Għargħur, in the vicinity of the Tal-Laqx windmill and Semaphore Tower—an area characterised by its rural land- scape.