‘Hypermodern’ drive-in eatery and office block not a fit for Burmarrad

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage is objecting to a large-scale development in Burmarrad on an undeveloped plot of disused agricultural land near the petrol station opposite the Kiabi discount store.

It described the “hypermodern design” as being “incongruous” with the rural context of Burmarrad and warned approval would prejudice any attempt “to preserve traditional facades in the context of the village of Burmarrad.”

The plans were presented by Emmanuel Fenech, a director of Easysell Properties which is based in Portomaso and formerly was part of the Tumas Group.

The development comprises four storeys and a receded floor for a drive-thru restaurant, offices, and two-level basement parking. The project will mean uprooting of a number of mature pine and almond trees.

Unlike the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, the Environment and Resources Authority has not objected and limited itself to requesting more information about the development, including details on the trees which will have to be chopped.

The government recently approved changes to the local plan that was tailor-made to accommodate the owners of commercial establishments along Burmarrad Road.

The local plan in 2006 had already permitted limited development through its zoning as “an area of containment” - a designation for sites outside the development zone (ODZ) which already include commercial developments. But it also limited any such development to one floor, and only retail and office development as ancillary to the main use of the site for “vehicle repairs and maintenance, storage, and showrooms.”

The present site, at the mouth of Burmarrad right off the main exit to St Paul’s Bay

In 2018 the Labour government proposed changes which were approved by the Planning Authority to turn the 20,000sq.m stretch along Burmarrad Road into a full-blown commercial area. The area starts from the Burmarrad Commercials compound near the Kiabi store, allowing four-storey commercial development rising to 17.5m, ending at the start of the Wardija hill by the Scotts supermarket. Zoning was also changed to include offices, retail shops and catering establishment. 

But the policy itself still states that the design of the buildings in this zone “must take into account the rural context of the site and minimise impacts on long distance views”. However the PA can stil favour the “innovative utilization of modern materials”. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage insists Easysell’s development is at odds with this policy.

Easysell had already planned a petrol station set on the same site, which was later abandoned after the PA approved a petrol station on a nearby plot of land owned by another company, Construction and Turnkey Ltd.

Moviment Graffitti is objecting to the development, describing the proposed building as “out of place” in the Burmarrad rural setting, and insisting that retail shops and offices should not be allowed outside development zones.

Since its election in 2013 the Labour government has been hell-bent on pushing for the urbanisation of Burmarrad, with the PA approving two ODZ petrol stations and then lifting restrictions on the use of public land originally ceded to a farmers’ cooperative, to allow it to be transformed into a discount store. The PA is currently considering a supermarket proposal on land owned by developers Bonnici Brothers further down the road, with Infrastructure Malta proposing a roundabout just next to it.