Garden spared as Ta’ Xbiex marina restaurant moves to the foreshore in latest plans

Plans for a coastal restaurant and offices on the Ta’ Xbiex promenade have been resubmitted by the transport authority, after initial plans proposing this be built in the public garden were withdrawn

A proposed restaurant and offices on the Ta’ Xbiex promenade have been shifted out of the Council of Europe Garden to the foreshore in the latest plans submitted by the transport authority.

Having abandoned a controversial plan for building the structures inside the Council of Europe Gardens, Transport Malta has now presented a new application for the restaurant on the reorganised promenade between the garden and the sea.

The one-storey building will include a 163sq.m restaurant, a 162sq.m office, and 180 square metres for outside catering.

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage welcomed the fact that the proposed development is no longer located inside the established public garden and will not impact directly on the garden.

Nevertheless, the Superintendence still expressed its concern that the marina office and its facilities together, including a fuelling area for boats, creates “a very extensive development that is out of scale with the context.”

Moreover, the foreshore location between the garden and the sea will inevitably impact on views on the garden towards the sea and Manoel Island. The Superintendence said it would be favourable to the mitigation of such inevitable impacts with amended drawings addressing these issues.

The plans also refer to a separate application, which will involve a “redesign” of the garden, that will reorganise street parking to create a promenade for pedestrians.

A 25-year concession was awarded by public tender to the Gzira Gardens Marina Consortium in 2018, a project which had attracted 14 bids. But the application for an “operator area”, which includes the proposed restaurant, have both been presented by Transport Malta, and not by the concessionaires.