PA defers five-storey development behind Qrendi primary school

The Planning Authority’s Executive Council deferred a decision on planning parameters for a five-storey residential development behind Qrendi primary school.

It postponed the matter by six weeks amid concerns about the project’s massing and the impact of a large blank party wall on the locality.

Acting Chairman Silvio Farrugia, who chairs Executive Council meetings whenever Executive Johann Buttigieg is indisposed, presided over Wednesday’s meeting in Buttigieg’s absence.

Farrugia said the council needed further information on the impact of the proposed massing and asked for a study assessing the project’s massing before the application is brought back for a decision.

The 2,476sq.m site forms part of an 8,500sq.m area conditionally included in the development zone in 2006, subject to an archaeological study establishing whether the land was suitable for development. That study has still not been carried out.

The case officer argued that the requirement could be addressed at full development application stage, following consultation with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH).

The Planning Control application by Michael Bugeja’s Tan-Nadur Limited proposes a five-storey development and a new access road. The farmhouse at the southern end of the site, which includes a niche with a high-relief statue of the Madonna, would have to be dismantled to accommodate the road alignment.

During the public hearing, architect Tara Cassar, speaking for objectors, described the proposed development as a massive block with permanent blank party walls that would disrupt the rhythm of Qrendi’s skyline, contrary to SPED policies protecting historic landscapes.

She also argued that the site’s inclusion in the 2006 rationalisation exercise was conditional on archaeological investigations, which should precede the establishment of planning parameters.

A resident raised concerns about the impact of the development on Qrendi primary school and the Helen Keller Resource Centre, which provides specialist educational support for children with visual impairments.

The development will also result in the demolition of an old farmhouse.

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had favoured retaining the existing standalone vernacular building on site or reconstructing it further back.

However, a structural report commissioned by the developers’ architect found it to be in an advanced state of dilapidation, with temporary concrete retaining blocks preventing its collapse.

The Planning Directorate gave greater weight to Transport Malta’s requirement for a straight road alignment, while recommending that heritage features from the farmhouse be preserved and incorporated into the replacement building under SCH supervision.

The SCH had also raised archaeological concerns, noting that part of the proposed extension of Triq Filippu Gutenberg falls within the protection buffer zone of a wall made of Globigerina limestone megaliths identified in the South Malta Local Plan.

The heritage authority warned that excavation could uncover previously unknown remains, potentially requiring changes to the drawings or road alignment. Any future works would have to be archaeologically monitored.

Objectors also argued that approving separate parts of the wider 2006 rationalisation area could lead to a piecemeal assessment of its archaeological significance.

The Directorate justified the proposed 14.1-metre façade facing the school by comparing it not with the existing school which is 8.5 metres high, but with a hypothetical extra floor that could be added to the school.

After factoring in the different street levels, it argued that the development would have slightly lower massing than a hypothetical three-storey school.

The convoluted comparison was nevertheless challenged by objectors, who warned that the five-storey development could tower over the existing school and sports facilities.

The application will now return to the Executive Council after the six-week deferral and further information on the project’s massing has been provided.