Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540090
THE Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has requested an Environmental Impact Assess- ment (EIA) for a proposed sports village, set to include a hotel and a shopping mall, on the Flower Power site and adjacent agricul- tural land in Ta' Qali. No current planning applica- tion exists, as the latest proposal for the sports village submitted in 2022 was withdrawn in June after the Planning Authority (PA) indi- cated its intention to refuse it. According to a Project Descrip- tion Statement (PDS) submitted in August, the development would include a four-storey hotel with a footprint of 3,500 sq.m, a health club over 1,000 sq.m, a 3,250 sq.m retail centre, a 500 sq.m rehabili- tation clinic, and an 8,500 sq.m garden centre. The sports facilities would com- prise a full-size rugby pitch, a half- size scrum training pitch, two full- size football pitches, a sprint track, six tennis courts, 12 padel tennis courts, and an indoor sports com- plex. An underground car park would accommodate 467 cars. The 207,000 sq.m site falls un- der policy NWTQ 31 of the Ta' Qali Action Plan, which allows a change of use from agriculture and horticulture to recreation and sport on the Flower Power site. This is conditional on a holistic planning approach and a maxi- mum building height of seven me- tres. Part of the site is designated as a "building zone" for ancillary sports facilities, provided they do not exceed 15% of the area; the PDS states that this limit is being respected. The PDS also acknowledges po- tential negative impacts, including increased vehicular emissions. The number of additional trips is expected to exceed 1,000, result- ing in a moderate to major impact. Construction of new buildings could also affect the visual amen- ity of the surrounding areas and disrupt viewpoints from nearby localities. The withdrawn application, submitted by Michael Spiteri on behalf of Flower Power Ltd., had initially been slated for refusal in January. The Planning Board post- poned its decision after revised plans were submitted. During a board meeting, architect Edwin Mintoff requested a further post- ponement to allow submission of traffic and environmental studies and to obtain clearance from ERA and Transport Malta. Executive Chairman Johann Buttigieg rejected the request, stressing that the development had to be assessed within the es- tablished timeframe. ENGO representative Romano Cassar also insisted that the de- velopment should be halted, as it essentially involved constructing a hotel in the ODZ and would result in the loss of agricultural land. 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 OCTOBER 2025 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt EEKhEDEdK&>>&KZWZK:dWZKWK^>^hEZ ŽŵŵŽŶŐƌŝĐƵůƚƵƌĂůWŽůŝĐLJϮϬϮϯͲϮϬϮϳ dŚĞDŝŶŝƐƚƌLJƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďůĞĨŽƌƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ&ƵŶĚƐŝƐůĂƵŶĐŚŝŶŐĂĐĂůůĨŽƌƉƌŽũĞĐƚƉƌŽƉŽƐĂůƐĂƐŝŶĚŝĐĂƚĞĚŚĞƌĞƵŶĚĞƌ͗ • /ŶƚĞƌǀĞŶƚŝŽŶϳϴ͘ϭ͘ϭ͗<ŶŽǁůĞĚŐĞĞdžĐŚĂŶŐĞ ĂŶĚ ĚŝƐƐĞŵŝŶĂƚŝŽŶ ŽĨŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶ͗^ƵƉƉŽƌƚĨŽƌsŽĐĂƚŝŽŶĂů ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐĂŶĚƐŬŝůůƐĂĐƋƵŝƐŝƚŝŽŶĂĐƚŝŽŶƐ dŚĞĐĂůůǁŝůůĐůŽƐĞŽŶϮϳ ƚŚ DĂƌĐŚϮϬϮϲĂƚŶŽŽŶ͘ WƌŽƐƉĞĐƚŝǀĞĂƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐĂƌĞĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞĚƚŽƌĞĨĞƌƚŽŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬͬĨŽŶĚŝ͘ĞƵͬƚŽĂĐĐĞƐƐƚŚĞW^ƚƌĂƚĞŐŝĐWůĂŶ͕ĂƐǁĞůůĂƐƚŚĞ 'ƵŝĚĂŶĐĞEŽƚĞƐĂŶĚƚŚĞĂƉƉůŝĐĂƚŝŽŶĨŽƌŵƐƌĞůĂƚĞĚƚŽƚŚŝƐĐĂůůƐ͘ dŚĞŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶƐĞƐƐŝŽŶĨŽƌƚŚŝƐĐĂůůǁŝůůďĞŚĞůĚŝŶ:ĂŶƵĂƌLJϮϬϮϲĂŶĚŵŽƌĞĚĞƚĂŝůƐǁŝůůďĞĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞĂƚĂůĂƚĞƌĚĂƚĞ ŽŶƚŚĞ^DǁĞďƐŝƚĞŚƚƚƉƐ͗ͬͬƐĞŵ͘ŐŽǀ͘ŵƚͬ ŽƌďLJĐĂůůŝŶŐ^DŽŶϮϳϳϵϳϯϬϬ͘ &ŽƌĨƵƌƚŚĞƌŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶŽŶƚŚŝƐĐĂůůĂŶĚƵƉĚĂƚĞƐƌĞůĂƚĞĚƚŽƚŚĞŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕<ŝŶĚůLJĂĐĐĞƐƐƚŚĞYZĐŽĚĞ͘ &ƵƌƚŚĞƌƋƵĞƌŝĞƐĂƌĞƚŽďĞƐĞŶƚďLJĞŵĂŝůŽŶĨŽŶĚŝ͘ĞƵΛŐŽǀ͘ŵƚ EIA required for mega sports village in Ta' Qali Aerial visuals of development as proposed in 2022