ODZ elderly home proposed in Żabbar

 A new four-storey high old people’s home is being proposed on 4,364sq.m of agricultural land along Triq Wied il-Għajn, which connects Żabbar to the Żonqor and Blajjiet area of Marsaskala.

The development is being proposed by Clinton Spiteri just outside the development zone in Żabbar, on fallow land along Triq is-Sajjied.

Spiteri has declared that he owns the entire site where the development is proposed.

The proposal includes three basement levels providing 153 car park spaces and 92 rooms, built over a ground floor and three overlying floors, one of which is recessed.

The rooftop will include a garden as well as an area dedicated to services.

The area of the proposed development

The development proposed by Clinton Spiteri is set to include a dementia day centre, a pharmacy, and 92 rooms for residents.

The application foresees the demolition of existing rubble walls and a farm building.

The application is still being vetted by the Planning Authority and will be issued for public consultation on 27 August.

This is the second application for an ODZ old people’s home in the past month. Another is being proposed behind a petrol station along Triq Sant’ Antnin, the other road linking Żabbar and Marsaskala.

The Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) allows old people’s homes in ODZ areas. However, applicants are expected to follow a ‘sequential approach’, using ODZ land only as a last resort after exploring existing built-up areas, brownfield sites, and vacant land within the development zone.

But in a recent case related to an old people’s home development in Naxxar, the PA accepted that the developer could dismiss alternative sites in the development zone deemed to be financially unfeasible.