The Planning Board has approved the redevelopment of the vacant Buskett Forest Aparthotel at Ta' Sabbat, Dingli, into a Class 2A elderly care home, a Planning Authority statement said.

The project involves demolishing the existing aparthotel and replacing it with a 54-room care facility accommodating up to 100 residents.

It will include dedicated accommodation for persons with dementia, a pharmacy, multipurpose hall, cafeteria, kitchen, staff facilities, swimming pool, landscaped outdoor areas, a roof garden and a 40 car-parking spaces.

The site is already occupied by a substantial vacant building. The approved development will replace this structure without extending onto the adjoining agricultural land.

The approved footprint, height, floorspace and volume remain within the development parameters established for the site through a previous outline permit.

During the assessment process, the proposal was revised and reduced in scale.

Setbacks, terraces, verandas and landscaped areas were introduced at different levels to break up the building's massing and help it integrate more effectively with its rural surroundings.

The statement said that the landscaping scheme includes indigenous trees and planting intended to reduce the building's visual prominence.

Given the site's proximity to the Natura 2000 area of L-Inħawi tal-Buskett u tal-Girgenti, the proposal was subject to an Appropriate Assessment.

Following its assessment of the revised plans, the Environment and Resources Authority concluded that the development is not expected to have a significant adverse effect on the surrounding environment or the integrity of the protected site, provided that the stipulated mitigation measures are implemented.

The permit restricts the development exclusively to use as a single elderly care facility. A public deed between the applicant and the Planning Authority will secure these limitations and the maximum development parameters applicable to the site.

The adjoining land must retain its open agricultural character, with no additional development rights granted through this permission, the statement said.