Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/855205
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 JULY 2017 9 News JAMES DEBONO THE American University of Mal- ta at Zonqor Point will include eight dormitory blocks that will rise from four to nine levels. The dorms will be built in the ar- ea that was identified as a national park in the local plan approved back in 2006. The application, presented by Sadeen Education Investment Ltd, states the project lies both inside and outside development zones (ODZ) but the Planning Authori- ty's website still lists the dorms be- ing inside the development zone. Two of the four-storey blocks will enjoy direct unobstructed views of the Zonqor shoreline. The two blocks behind will rise to seven and nine floors, also enjoy- ing sea views. The part of the project that lies ODZ will three multipurpose sports courts set upon a three level underground car park for nearly 500 cars. The site of the former national swimming pool will be replaced by a seven-storey high administration building on which an even higher conical structure is planned. The building will house a 52 sq.m dining and lounge room overlooking a terrace on the sixth floor. A boardroom will occupy the top floor. A multi-faith centre, a clinic and bank are included in a student centre set over three levels above ground. The auditorium will have a seating capacity for 713 students. Most other buildings, including the engineering school, the IT and communication school and the arts school will be constructed on two or three levels. The build- ings will be set around a massive central pool similar to the one at Smart City. Sadeen's application was pre- sented on 17 February 2017, two months before the start of the election campaign during which no mention was made of the AUM project by the government. ERA calls for studies The Environment and Resources Authority has already commenced procedures for an Environment Impact Assessment, and has re- quested a separate assessment on the impact of the project on the adjacent Special Protection Area, designated for the protection of the Scopoli's shearwater and storm petrel during the breeding season. "The proposed development may lead to possible impacts on the SPA linked with habitat degrada- tion, changes to hydrological re- gime, disturbance through noise and light emissions," ERA said in a report to the PA. The ERA also highlighted the fact that the proposed dorm building would lie on the designated na- tional park, where priority should be given to the conservation of natural heritage. The PA has in the past already rejected applications for five glass- houses and a caravan site in the area where the dorms are being proposed. JAMES DEBONO A planning exception that allows the construction of old people's homes and similar health and com- munity facilities on land outside development zones, is now result- ing in an absurd situation where these homes are being proposed just a stone's throw away from each other. The latest case involves that of an elderly home and facility for intel- lectually disabled youths proposed just 200 metres away from the recently-approved 117-room old people's home, to be built by the Fort Cambridge developers GAP, on Gharghur Road, Naxxar. A year ago, Kajjarun Limited re- quested permission for a 200-room old people's home on Tal-Balal Road, in Naxxar. The application is still pending. The latest proposal, by landowner Mario Brincat, was presented back in February in full knowledge that GAP's application was already at an advanced stage in the planning process. Naxxar already hosts the Hilltop Gardens retirement village, as well as the Simblija care home and the Holy Family home. The latest home is being pro- posed just outside the development boundaries of Naxxar, instead of a disused pig farm surrounded by ag- ricultural land, near the Laqx wind- mill and Gharghur Semaphore Tower. The proposed 47-room facility will be built over a 2,200 sq.m site over three floors, together with a basement garage. The current site is already occu- pied by a disused farm and is not lo- cated within a virgin rural area. But according to the Environment and Resources Authority, which has al- ready objected to the project, the project will be "visually intrusive". Residents say the pig farm has been abandoned for the past quar- ter of a century. In 1997 the Plan- ning Authority had refused an ap- plication presented by its previous owner for a garage development, because the site lies in a Rural Con- servation Area. But the hunger for land for such private old people's homes seems insatiable, with the PA now con- sidering at least nine ODZ applica- tions (Sta Lucija, Attard, Mtarfa, Fgura, Birgu, Zebbug, San Lawrenz and two in Naxxar) as well as vari- ous others involving higher build- ings 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. Growing demand for ODZ homes Sources in the Planning Author- ity say the demand is fuelled both by the real need for elderly care homes resulting from Malta's age- ing population, and by policy loop- holes for homes in ODZ areas, or which allow extra storeys above the building heights set in local plans. Ironically, while ODZ sites are being proposed for old people's homes, development zones are being picked up for more lucra- tive residential and commercial development. For example the PA recently changed the zoning of a site in Qormi (next to its Park and Ride) that had been originally ear- marked for an old people's home, to accommodate retail develop- ment. How policy paves way for ODZ homes The Strategic Plan for the Envi- ronment and Development opens a loophole by foreseeing old peo- ple's homes and other health fa- cilities outside development zones, but "only if no feasible option ex- ists within the development zone". Therefore applicants are being expected to consider the viability of other sites located in the devel- opment zone, after applying for development on ODZ sites. So far in all cases considered, these fea- sibility studies always concluded that the other options were not feasible. The PA is also currently consid- ering a new policy allowing extra storeys on such homes located within the building zone, including on scheduled buildings. AUM: Eight dorm blocks proposed at Zonqor Glut of ODZ old people's homes continues Just 200m away from Naxxar's recently-approved retirement home, the owner of a pig farm also wants to turn this land into an old people's home: but it is policy loopholes that feed this takeover of ODZ land Map shows three planning applications presented in the same area Plans for three of the proposed dormitory blocks on ODZ land at Zonqor