Earlier today, the Planning Board decided to withhold the renewal of a development permit that was originally approved in 2017, the PA said in a statement.

The permit was for the construction of 88 residential apartments and 93 garages on an extensive stretch of undeveloped land a few meters away from the Parish Church.

In the course of the hearing, the Board opted to re-evaluate the planning application in light of the current policies, treating it as a completely new planning application.

The site measures approximately 6,500m². In line with recent court rulings, the Planning Board decided that once no commencement notice was ever submitted for works to begin and there is no commitment on site, then the permit cannot be renewed.

Back in 2009, the PA had issued an Outline Development permit whereby it had agreed in principle to the zoning, density, alignment, building heights and massing of the project. In 2012, the Authority approved a full development permit 88 overlying flats and 93 garages.

This was subsequently renewed in April 2018. The site falls within Kalkara’s Urban Conservation Area (UCA) and is zoned as an Area of High Landscape Value of the Harbour Fortifications.