Residents of Mtarfa and the local council are objecting to the development of a large, four-storey sports pavilion in the town centre, saying it looks like an airport hangar and does not fit in with surrounding buildings.

The proposed steel and glass structure (PA 06237/23) will be more than seven times the size of the gymnasium that will be demolished to make way for the project proposed by Depiro Basketball Club.

The Planning Ministry provided the club with an architect for the project.

In its objection, signed by mayor Kyle Mifsud, the Mtarfa council said the 11-metre-high pavilion will stand out in stark contrast with the open-air structure that is currently being used.

The council said the proposed “hangar-like structure” in the town centre did not complement any of the surrounding buildings.

An elevation of the proposed pavilion submitted by the ministry. Image: PA

It argued the building will negatively impact Mtarfa’s skyline, especially the area around a recently restored Grade 1 scheduled clock tower. It will also impact the skyline as seen from the medieval city of Mdina, Triq Buqana and Triq il-Kavallier Vincenzo Bonello, the council said.

“The local council feels that the proposed building is too big for the area. The plans did not include the amount of people that can visit or use this pavilion at one time,” it said. Expressing concerns about traffic, the council said Triq ir-Reġimenti Maltin is a single-carriageway road in both directions, connecting the Mtarfa town centre to Mtarfa Road, the locality’s main road.

The road where the pavilion is being proposed is also used by people visiting shops in the town centre, the parish, the local council and by families living in the former military barracks, Binja Buqana, Binja Qlejgħa, Binja Santa Luċija and in the surrounding streets.

Triq ir-Reġimenti Maltin is also used to access two daycare centres run by Aġenzija Sapport and a residential unit run by the same entity. Furthermore, it is the main route for public transport.

“In view that the community and local council were not formally consulted on the submitted plans, the Mtarfa local council is objecting to the proposed development… of a fully-fledged sports hangar in the heart of the locality,” the council said.

It said that no parking was being proposed while the temporary parking area belonging to the Archdiocese of Malta will eventually be lost as the church was planning to build a new parish church on that land.

Residents also strongly objected to the plans, quoting economy minister Silvio Schembri, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo as stating that the recent restoration of the tower and the new visitor’s centre were part of the wider masterplan to turn Mtarfa into a military tourist attraction.

“If this is so, this new structure made of steel does not fit with this vision nor with the aesthetics and character of the area, and will become an eyesore, not a tourist attraction. It will block some of the views towards the south and will cover the view to the large trees found in the Mtarfa woodlands from the main square and the watch tower,” the residents complained.

They said the surrounding buildings were composed of limestone with design carvings, insisting that this typically Maltese construction feature, which was also extensively used by the British forces in Malta, should be encouraged and saved, and not replaced with bland concrete and steel of no architectural value. Around 45 cars currently parked in the basement underneath the five-a-side football pitch will have to be parked outside and occupy the already limited vacant parking spaces left, if available.

Moreover, since it was being proposed just a couple of metres away from homes, the noise would distress residents, they said, adding that several protected trees would have to be chopped down to make space for the pavilion.