Controversial Valley Road development set for approval

A decades-long planning saga on a stretch of undeveloped land along Valley Road in Msida is approaching a decisive moment. 

The Planning Authority’s executive council is set to decide on 14 April whether to approve a zoning application for a residential area at Ta’ Fuq il-Wied. 

The sloping site, characterised by thick rubble walls and disused agricultural land, lies behind the Charles Grech Ltd outlet between Valley Road and Triq Indri Grima in Swatar. The site was added to the development zone in 2006 with a key condition that the lower half of the site could host low-density detached buildings, while the upper area was to remain largely open. 

Objectors argue the zoning being proposed now contradicts the “low-intensity” requirements of the local plan. 

The application was submitted in 2017 by David Grech and covers 17,455sq.m. Grech is one of several individuals who own plots on the site. The proposal spreads 12 detached building blocks across both upper and lower slopes in a grid layout. Public and private open spaces are intended to cover 51.1% of the site, with only around half of this being publicly accessible. The remainder is reserved as private space. Beyond narrow corridors of greenery, the plan includes two sizeable tracts of open space, one on the northwest corner and another on the east. 

Vehicular access is limited to a single cul-de-sac with a central turning head, replacing earlier concepts for a full internal road network. Most building blocks are approximately 525sq.m with two blocks in the northeast reaching 1,300sq.m each for a total building footprint of 7,129sq.m. 

Approval is being recommended based on a volumetric (3D) interpretation of “low density”, which factors in site topography. By measuring building heights from these adjusted levels, architects argue the blocks remain compliant with policy, even though a strict horizontal (2D) reading would have confined development to the lower half of the site. 

The Planning Directorate noted that under this approach, the maximum deviation above the upper road level of Triq Indri Grima would be just 1.4m, roughly equivalent to a front garden wall, a detail cited as preserving the low-intensity appearance. 

Stormwater management requirements are also incorporated, with 7,400 cubic metres of reservoirs planned beneath the buildings. These volumes account for the roof area and half of the public open space, while unpaved green areas are excluded. 

Msida council had objected to development 

Residents, NGOs, and the Msida Local Council argued that large footprints and partial development of the upper slopes directly contradict the rationalisation plan. They also warned that soil sealing and construction could worsen flooding in a site already prone to surface runoff. 

“Instead of more residential development it makes more sense to devise a plan to sustain the environment through more trees and the restoration of rubble walls, in a way that the area is conserved for future generations,” the Msida council said in an objection presented in 2023. It described the site as one of the few green spaces left in the area. It also pointed out that Ambjent Malta had identified an adjacent site for afforestation. 

The council also argued that buildings with a proposed building height of 17.5m cannot, by any stretch, “qualify as low-density development”.