Eight-storey nursing home threatens Birkirkara windmill

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has objected to an eight-storey old people’s home just 12 metres off the 300-year-old, scheduled Mitħna Ta’ Ganu, near Ġnien tal-Kmand, also scheduled at Grade 1.

The proposed development is being earmarked on a plot occupied by a three-storey showroom on Naxxar Road, with apartments on Triq il-Bwieraq.

The Superintendence described the scale of the proposed development, adjacent to the Grade 1 windmill, as “objectionable” as this will “impact on the setting of the windmill as well as the limited views the same windmill enjoys along Triq in-Naxxar.”

The Superintendence called for reduced heights that can respect the height and proportions of the scheduled windmill. Moreover, any revised proposal is to be supported by visuals and photomontages, indicating the proposed development in relation to the windmill.

The Gabriel Caruana Foundation, which since its inception has managed the mill as a contemporary art, cultural and crafts centre, also recently objected to the development, describing the mill as “a unique site in Malta” both due to its physical characteristics and contribution to the urban fabric of Birkirkara. The windmill has now become synonymous with the celebration and continuation of the legacy of Gabriel Caruana, one of the pioneers of modern and contemporary art in Malta.

The development by Bonnici Textiles foresees the demolition of the existing building and the excavation of four basement levels in short proximity to the historical windmill.

But the local plan limits developments to three floors and one semi-basement in this area of Birkirkara, a maximum height of 16.3m, inclusive of penthouse level, according to the 2015 development guidelines rules.

The developers want to fit six storeys within this heigh limit, to correspond to an adjacent development on the Domal showroom, currently rising at four floors and a receded level as approved in 2018.

However, the developers want a full extra floor and receded top floor, citing the 2017 policy that allows old people’s homes to add two floors over and above local plan height limits. In this way seven full floors and a receded top floor are being proposed on a site where other developments are limited to five floors and a receded floor. The development includes a separate commercial showroom fronting Triq in-Naxxar.