A fresh application for the building of a supermarket and apartments on a field outside the development zone in Għajnsielem has been submitted after a similar application for the location had been withdrawn.
The application, PA/04619/23, was filed by Gozitan developer Francesco Raniero Grima and architect Alexander Bigeni. It seeks to excavate three underground levels on the site and build a supermarket, with 18 residential units to be constructed over an additional three floors on top of the supermarket, with plans for a swimming pool.
The plot is a soil-covered field which spans 1,550 square metres in total, located on Triq l-Imġarr, Għajnsielem, which is the road that leads from Victoria to Mġarr harbour.
Last year, Grima and Bigeni had filed another application to build a supermarket on the site, which included plans to construct greenhouses and a plant nursery, however, this application was withdrawn. The new plans submitted for the site appear to have axed plans for the plant nursery. The number of proposed residences appears to have also increased in the new plans, rising from 10 units in 2022 to 18 units in 2023.
In the original withdrawn application, PA/04172/22, the applicant had listed the site as being both ODZ and within the development zone. However, the new public application form lists the site as only being in the development zone while the checkbox for ODZ was marked as “false”.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had expressed concern about the original application, saying that the site falls within 38 metres of two Neolithic domestic structures and partially within an area of archaeological constraint as indicated in the Gozo and Comino local plans. The extensive soil cover, the SCH said, increases the chances of surviving archaeological remains on the site.
“The superintendence immediately expresses its concern at the considerable intensification of development as proposed, largely outside development zone and within an area of considerable archaeological sensitivity,” the SCH said in its submission.
“The extensive excavation as proposed would inevitably destroy surviving features on site.”
Additionally, it recommended that the site be subjected to an archaeological evaluation before any development permits are granted.
The Environment and Resources Authority also objected to the application, saying that the proposed development would result in the significant uptake of undeveloped rural land, increase the urban sprawl into ODZ as well as formalise an ODZ site and create a visual impact on the surrounding areas.
“The proposed use of the site for recreational or commercial uses is not considered suitable within this area ODZ and such development should be limited to areas already designated for such uses,” it had said at the time.
The new application has yet to receive a formal recommendation from the PA’s planning directorate.
Representations may be sent to the PA until September 18.