Plans for new law courts in Gozo as part of an "extensive public plaza" in Victoria were approved today, the Planning Authority said.  

The new building, which will include an underground public car park, will become "a landmark architectural feature" for the island, the authority said in a statement.   

The site of the proposed new building.

Gozo's law courts are currently located in the Cittadella. The new building will be between Triq Gorg Borg Olivier and Triq San Ġużepp Labre.

54 car park places will be reserved for magistrates, their personnel and law courts staff, with a further five underground levels providing 441 car park spaces for the public. 

The authority said that the approved plans came after a site selection exercise had been carried out. The exercise had, among other things, looked into the possibility of upgrading and refurbishing the existing law court building, it said.

Among the variables assessed in the exercise were the location, environmental impacts, landscape and visual impacts, social impacts, technical and operational considerations, economic impacts and transport issues a new building would involve.

Plans for a new law court building date back several years. In 2013, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo had estimated the project's cost at €12 million.