Swieqi residents and the council have come together to object to a proposed five-storey home for the elderly in one of the few green areas in the overpopulated locality.
“ODZ is ODZ and there can be no compromise. Malta simply cannot continue eating up its countryside to accommodate commercial projects which could be located within urban areas marked for development,” Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat wrote in an objection on behalf of the local council.
Through application PA1940/24, Joseph Mangion is proposing a five-storey nursing home on a vacant site measuring almost 1,000 square metres in Triq Wied Mejxu.
He is proposing the excavation of the site and the construction of the nursing home on four floors and a recessed level including underlying parking at basement level and ancillary facilities to nursing home including offices, a kitchen and a clinic.
In his objection, Muscat said that although the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development appeared to allow the possibility of building a nursing home outside the development zone, it set clear restrictions on this. It states that new social and community facilities may be considered “where no other feasible alternatives exist”.
In this case, there is absolutely no reason why a nursing home cannot be located within the development zone where diverse feasible alternatives exist, he said.
The site is not only ODZ, but is at the bottom of a valley, a green lung within the town of Swieqi whose population is set to multiply significantly over the next few years as a result of planning permits issued for a multitude of residential apartments- Swieqi mayor
“There is no necessity to locate the proposed project ODZ. Furthermore, the site in question is certainly not an ‘appropriate location’. It is not only ODZ, but is at the bottom of a valley, a green lung within the town of Swieqi whose population is set to multiply significantly over the next few years as a result of planning permits issued for a multitude of residential apartments,” he wrote.
The mayor also expressed concerns on access to the home for the elderly, predicting confusion as well as serious problems if an ambulance needs access since the road is far too narrow to allow traffic in both directions.
“What up to now has been a quiet residential street will become jam-packed with visitors’ parked vehicles. Accesses on both sides of the proposed home would be of detriment to the quality of life of the residents, and would certainly represent ‘bad neighbour’ development,” Muscat wrote.
Residents, particularly those living in Triq Wied Mejxu and Triq il-Pedidalwett who have objected to the proposed development pointed out that the site was at the bottom end of Wied Mejxu where Project Green recently conducted ecological interventions to remove invasive species and improve the valley.
'A valuable green lung for the area'
They said the site was considered a valuable green lung for the area, which has no nearby public gardens or playgrounds and which has seen a rapid rise in population. Other objectors said the hardship that the residents will have to endure both during construction phase as well as during the operation of this home for the elderly was “unfair and unjustified”.
The Planning Authority last year turned down an application for another home for the elderly on the corner of Triq il-Gejża and Triq is-Swieqi, which was being pushed by MTA Properties Ltd.
The developer is seeking permission to construct the old people’s home, including an ancillary clinic that will operate as one unit with the overall complex. The company was proposing the excavation of the vacant plot of land for four basement levels with 121 parking spaces and overlying five floors with a total of 106 bedrooms.
The PA, however, agreed with the case officer that only terraced houses, maisonettes and flats were allowed in the site within the locality’s residential priority area.
The proposed project ran counter to policies that aim to protect and enhance the character and amenity of urban areas.