A five-storey development proposed alongside Mosta's Wied il-Ghasel has been recommended for refusal by a Planning Authority case officer.

The development was proposed on Mosta's Triq il-Kostituzzjoni - one of the town's main thoroughfares - instead of a dwelling known as Villa Paramount.  The dwelling is situated directly opposite the Casa Arkati care home and overlooks the protected Wied il-Ghasel valley.

The developers, Jarom Investments Ltd, plan to completely demolish the terraced house together with its pool and ancillary areas - parts of which are in an Outside Development Zone and which also lie in the buffer zone for the valley, which is considered an Area of Ecological Importance.

Instead, the developers wish to build a five-storey mixed development featuring four underground levels as well. 

The proposal includes two garage basement levels with 37 lockup private garages and 29 parking spaces, a substation, a Class 2A medical clinic at ground floor and level -1, an apartment block having 16 apartments and 3 penthouses with ancillary gardens and pools, and a Class 3C gym.

Furthmore, the proposal also includes a detached 87 square metre dwelling at the back of the site, which is incidentally situated in an ODZ.

Close to 100 objections were filed against the project, with members of the public highlighting that the development was "objectionable in principle." Objectors argued that the development would have an adverse environmental impact on the valley, and that the proposed height went beyond what is allowable in the Mosta North Building Height Limitations Map, and would also ruin the streetscape on that side of the road.

Streetscape plans submitted by the developers compared the plans to the height of Casa Arkati which sits on the opposite side of the road and which it was aligned with, save for an additional level of penthouses.

The Environment & Resources Authority also labelled the proposed development as "excessive."

The Planning Authority's case officer raised several issues as to why the development could not be favourably considered.

The first was that the development would run counter to the Central Malta Local Plan because the gym is considered to be "of a large scale" - it is sized 190 square metres - and would therefore "have an adverse impact on the residential amenity of the area."

The gym would also run counter to the SPED Urban Objective 3 which aims to protect and enhance the character and amenity of urban areas.

The case officer observed that the development runs counter to established policy because some of the apartments and the dwelling situated at the back of the site do not have frontage on a schemed road.

It also breaches design policy because end plots facing ODZ should provide a transition design solution by following the topography of the site - which this development does not do - and it also breaches policy because it exceeds the permissible plot depth of 30m.

"In similar cases, a transition between the development boundary and the ODZ will be provided by simply creating setbacks at each floor level following the site's topography. The proposed development does not provide any side setbacks away from the valley nor does it follow the topography of the site," the case officer observed.

The proposed development of a dwelling located in ODZ was labelled as objectionable as well, with the case officer saying that it runs counter to the score of Rural Policy & Design Guidance and was therefore not in line with the SPED for limiting the land take up for uses which are not necessary or legitimate in rural areas.

Finally, there were also accessibility concerns highlighted by the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability which were listed as a reason that the proposal should be refused.

With regards to the building's height however, the case officer highlighted that while the local plan for the area had designated the height limitation for the area as being three floors plus semi-basement, Annex 2 of DC15 had introduced an overall height of 17.50m with a frontage height of 14.10m.

"The proposed development, when measured from the highest street level in Triq il-Konstituzzjoni measures an overall height of 17.50m and frontage of 14.10m in line with the height limitation of the area as permitted by the Local plan and by policy P35 of the DC 2015," the case officer observed.

The Planning Authority's case officer recommended that the proposal be refused by the Planning Authority.

It is set to be heard on 12 December 2024.  The Planning Authority may choose to run counter to the case officer's recommendation should the issues raised be addressed, but it would have to re-confirm its vote two weeks later.