Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/720024
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016 11 JAMES DEBONO THE Maltese are more likely than any other European to have a credit card, to invest in shares and bonds and investment funds and to have a car and health in- surance, according to a Europe- wide survey by the European Commission conducted last April on financial products and services in Europe. But they are less likely than other Europeans to have a cur- rent account. Significantly, the Maltese are the fourth most likely to have invested in bonds and shares among citizens of the EU 28 (20%), being surpassed only by the Swedes (43%), Danes (38%) and Finns (25%). The Greeks were the least like- ly to invest in shares and bonds. Only 1% replied that they held any. They are also the fourth most likely to own a credit card (62%) being surpassed only by Luxem- bourgers (84%), Danes (83%), and French (78%). Six per cent of respondents in Malta have also purchased a credit card in another member state. The Hungarians (11%) were the least likely to have a credit card, followed by the Greeks (17%). Respondents in Sweden (36%), Malta (15%), Denmark and Ger- many (both 10%) are the most likely to invest in an investment fund, while those in Bulgaria (0%), Latvia, Greece, France, Ro- mania and Croatia (all 1%) are the least likely to do so. Unlike most Europeans, the Maltese are more likely to have a savings account than a current account. While 69% of Maltese have a current account, 78% have a savings account. On the other hand 76% of Europeans have a savings account and only 44% own a current account. JAMES DEBONO AN eight-floor high old people's home in Tarxien along Triq tal- Barrani, and a three-storey high home on 4,595 square metres of land outside development zones (ODZ) in Zebbug along Siggiewi Road are among the latest additions to a long list of proposals submitted to the Planning Authority for the development of new homes for the elderly. The hunger for land for the de- velopment of private old people's homes seems insatiable, with the PA currently considering at least nine ODZ applications (Santa Lu- cija, Attard, Mtarfa, Fgura, Birgu, Zebbug, San Lawrenz and two in Naxxar) as well as various others involving higher buildings within development zones. With the exception of the Attard application which dates back to 2009, these applications have been presented in the past two years. According to sources in the Plan- ning Authority the demand is being fuelled both by the real need for elderly care homes resulting from Malta's ageing population, and by planning policies which open loop- holes for residential homes in ODZ areas or which allow extra storeys above the building heights set in lo- cal plans. The Strategic Plan for the Envi- ronment and Development opens a loophole by foreseeing old people's homes and other health facilities outside development zones, but "only if no feasible option exists within the development zone". The PA is also currently consider- ing a new policy allowing extra sto- reys on such homes located within the building zone, including on scheduled buildings. The latest proposal, that of a three-storey old people's home consisting of 327 rooms on a plot of land in Zebbug, is actually a resur- rection of an older application first presented by Raymond Zammit in Zebbug. This plot of land was left outside the development zones despite pressure by the owner to have it in- cluded in building zones before the approval of the 2006 local plans. In a submission presented on be- half of the same applicant before 2006 it is claimed that the site was included in the "building scheme of the 1960s" and that its addition to the development zone would "elim- inate the negative visual impact on the surrounding environment". In another submission presented by a group of owners that inclded Zammit, the site is described as "ideal for an old people's home." An application to construct an old people's home presented in 2005 made no progress and a brand new application was presented in the past weeks. Plans foresee two basement levels and three sto- reys accommodating 327 rooms. The proposal even includes a 240 square-metre chapel. Giant home proposed at Tarxien Pressure for new homes with ex- tra heights is also growing within development zones. An application for an enormous eight-storey high nursing home, which is set to have 104 rooms, has been presented by Frank Spiteri on a site within the development zone where a maximum height of 14 me- tres is allowed. The proposed build- ing would be nearly 29 metres high. The site fronts Triq tal-Barrani in the corner with Triq il-Palma and Triq Lorenzo Gonzi in Tarxien. The application is being proposed on a vacant site where the PA has already approved a showroom and three storeys for offices and apart- ments in 2014. A draft policy regulating build- ing heights of old people's homes is set to allow residential homes for the elderly to add an additional two floors over and above the number of floors allowed in the local plan. Moreover, according to design guidelines issued last year, the PA may consider higher buildings in corner sites like the one in Tarxien. News Hunger for more land for homes for the elderly PA considering nine applications for old people's homes outside development zones and applications for extra storeys within the development zones An old people's home was re-proposed along Triq is-Siggiewi in Zebbug, and in Tarxien an eight-storey nursing home is being proposed on this site along Triq tal-Barrani Maltese 'never leave home without their Visa' The Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development opens a loophole for ODZ old people's homes where 'no feasible option exists' in building zones