Transport Malta vetoes 9-storey block next to Mikiel Anton Vassalli bridge

Transport Malta is objecting to a nine-storey complex on a site designated by the local plan as a patch of greenery located beside the Mikiel Anton Vassalli Bridge, saying this development “may prejudice any future highway improvement”.

An application by Infrastructure Malta in 2019 had proposed a tunnel passing under Regional Road to improve the traffic flow to Paceville, along another tunnel in Pembroke. But the application remains suspended for more than two years.

The land in question is located further uphill from the St Julian’s government school, in the road leading down to Spinola Bay. The plot of land is accessed through the road leading from the left-hand side of Triq MA Vassalli at the north end of the Regional Road Tunnels.

In October 2020, landowner Carmelo Borg presented a zoning application seeking to change the designation of a 2,743sq.m plot of land in St Julian’s from public open space, as envisaged in the local plan, to permit residential and commercial development.

Plans foresee 5,226sq.m of residential development, 3,048sq.m of retail development and 1,536sq.m of office development. The development is being proposed in two separate blocks, one of five floors and another one of nine floors above Triq il-Baltiku. 500sq.m are allocated as a public pedestrian area.

Three underground levels of parking were also being proposed together with an underground sports complex and pool.

The site used to form part of Wied Għomor valley side prior to being cut off by the road junction design. The site is identified by the 2006 North Harbour Local Plan as a “public open space” and is safeguarded by the provisions of policy NHRL01, which prohibits the loss of urban public open spaces.

The same land had been previously identified by Tum Invest Limited for a 24-storey hotel next to the Regional Road tunnel, following a promise-of-sale agreement with Borg, which was subsequently rescinded. TM had not objected to these plans.

The development was facilitated after the applicant got hold of a narrow strip of public land right in the middle of this plot through a public tender. Though the timing of the sale of public land had raised concerns, a probe by the Lands Authority had concluded that there was no wrongdoing.

The Environment and Resources Authority, which had also objected to the Tum Invest project, has expressed reservations on the proposed commercial and residential development proposed by Borg, insisting that the site should remain an open space.