An application for the construction of a sport village complex in Ta Qali has been withdrawn after the planning board on Thursday made it clear that it was going to reject the application.
The Outline Development Application proposed the building of a sports complex across some 207,000 square metres of land which is situated in an Outside Development Zone along Triq Durumblat in Attard. Part of the proposed site is located on the former grounds of the Flower Power Garden Centre.
An Outline Development Application is an application for the approval of a project in principle, subject to a number of reserved matters which would need to be included in a full development permit application that would need to be filed later.
The application, by Mediterranean Flower Products Limited, proposes the construction of a hybrid sport complex comprising different facilities that include: a full-size rugby pitch, a half-size scrum training pitch, two full size football pitches, one half-size intensive training pitch, a sprint track, six tennis courts, one tennis show-court, 12 paddle tennis courts, an indoor sports complex, a football and rugby club, a tennis club, a sports health club and spa, and a hotel, among other things.
This is the second time the application is making its way before the Planning Authority Board. It was originally set to go before the Planning Authority Board last February. It was, at the time, slated for refusal, however it was pulled from the agenda when new plans were filed.
It had been slated for refusal for a number of reasons, including the fact that commercial uses of the proposal exceeded what is permitted in the Ta' Qali Action Plan which regulates the area. The new plans sought to downsize this element, but still include a four-storey hotel, a sports retail centre and a food court. The developer aimed to have the hotel and retail development considered as being "ancillary" to the sports developments - and it's an argument that the new case officer assessing the case accepted.
But the Planning Authority's case officer has still said that the new plans should be rejected for other reasons, which were listed.
Firstly, the case officer noted that the proposed development runs counter to the provisions of a policy of the Ta' Qali Action Plan, "which makes reference to the requirement of an overall comprehensive plan for the whole area. A parcel of land within the ownership boundaries of the application is linked to PA/10540/17 for the construction of an agricultural store and therefore, this constraint will affect the comprehensive principle of the policy in relation to the site boundaries."
In addition, the case officer noted that the applicant had failed to submit required correspondence from the Environment and Resources Authority within the stipulated timeframes and said that "the proposal lacks the necessary information to enable complete assessment in terms of environmental impacts." It said the same thing with regards to the applicant failing to submit the required Traffic Impact Assessment report and conclusions, saying that the proposal lacks the necessary information to enable complete assessment in terms of transportation requirements.
The case officer has recommended that the application be rejected.
Moviment Graffitti, writing on social media, had said that while the Ta' Qali Action Plan allows for the possibility of sports-related facilities in this area, "the proposed development is completely disproportionate in size and includes numerous built structures intended for various types of commercial activity, such as a four-storey hotel, shops, and restaurants."
The NGO said that, moreover, "even the proposed private sports facilities are excessive."
"It is clear that such intensive development - and the activity it will generate - on what is currently an open space in the ODZ will have a highly negative impact on the visual landscape, and lead to a degradation in the quality of life in the surrounding localities, as well as damage the protected natural areas next to it."
"In a country like Malta, where land is among the most scarce and precious resources, and with overdevelopment being one of the major issues facing our nation, projects that consume this amount of green and open space should not even be considered," Moviment Graffitti says.
The NGO "strongly urged the Planning Authority to safeguard our quality of life and natural environment by categorically refusing this application on Thursday."