PA set to ‘sanction’ 153-flat development in Zonqor

The Planning Authority is set to approve an increase in the number of apartments on a Żonqor site in Marsaskala from 118 flats to 153.

The project is located on land that was added to the development zone in 2006 and the original permit was approved two years ago.

Although a final decision on the application is due in a public hearing on 12 June, most of the development has already been completed according to the new plans.

Just a few weeks ago, the application submitted by GAP Projects Limited was changed to “to sanction” an already existing development.

For this reason, the case officer is recommending the imposition of a €31,184 fine “in view that sanctioning was not proposed in the original application.”

The developers already had a permit issued in 2022 to excavate the site and develop 118 apartments and two shops over five levels. This means that developers already had a right to commence the works.

But in 2024, a new application was presented to increase the number of apartments by 35 and increasing the number of levels to eight.

This change was achieved within the same height profile, thanks to a different layout and the varying levels of the terrain.

The change was made possible by the approval of a zoning application approved in March 2024, which authorised the creation of two pedestrian cul-de-sacs intended to provide more open spaces and more frontage space for the new apartment blocks. A public deed between the developer, the PA, Transport Malta and the local council will ensure that the developer is responsible for the upkeep of these public spaces.

Greater density but visually better

The case officer concludes that, as currently planned, the development will have a lesser visual impact than that approved in 2022, “due to the new design,” which will no longer consist of one solid block but will instead feature two ‘U’-shaped blocks connected to each other.

The site is bordered by two existing roads—Triq l-Għawwiema and Triq l-Għaguża—and two new projected ones. The higher level corresponds to the upper part of Triq l-Għawwiema, which is still partly unopened and, due to the change in level, will now include a public staircase.

The site had already been excavated and cleared of soil and carob trees before the second application was submitted. Works on the apartment blocks continued in the following months.

However, it was unclear at that stage whether these works were being carried out under the 2022 permit or under the 2024 application, which had yet to be approved.

In fact, in an objection submitted last year, residents noted that three floors had already been built by the time the second application was presented. They described the submission of new plans while construction was underway as “procedural bad practice.”

Objectors warned that this would set a dangerous precedent for the future, encouraging other developers to seek similar increases in density through changes approved while construction is ongoing. Objectors had also expressed concern about the repercussions of increased density on the road infrastructure, sewage system, electricity grid, water distribution and other public utilities.

But the case officer pointed out that a substation has been integrated to provide adequate power supply while the increase of 35 units is considered minimal in terms of traffic impacts. Traffic studies show that on average the project will generate an extra 130 car trips over and above the 662 generated by the already approved 118 apartments.