Sports village proposed on former Flower Power ODZ site in Ta’ Qali

A foreign-owned company wants to develop an area the size of 30 football grounds on the former Flower Power site in Ta’ Qali into a sports village

The site in Ta' Qali where a company with foreign shareholders wants to develop a sports village
The site in Ta' Qali where a company with foreign shareholders wants to develop a sports village

A sports village sprawling over an area the size of 30 football grounds is being proposed on land partly occupied by the disused Flower Power nursery in Ta’ Qali.

The land covering 207,000sq.m is outside the development boundaries and consists of the area occupied by the disuses Flower Power garden nursery and agricultural land.

The project is being proposed by Mediterranean Flower Products Limited whose directors are Australian nationals John Paul Sammut and Michael Spiteri.

A number of UK companies, including Bristol-based F Hawking and Sons are among the shareholders in the company.

The development is set to include a hotel, a health club, a full-size rugby pitch, two full size football pitches, five tennis courts, an indoor sports complex, training pitches, an underground car park and a commercial and retail area.

Although the site is outside development zones, the Ta’ Qali Action Plan foresees a change of use of the area from agriculture and horticulture use, to recreational or sport purposes. But the plan bans residential, office and retail development on the site, and only allows built-up structures ancillary to the sports facilities on the northeastern part of the site. 

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has already expressed concern on “the intensity of the proposed development”, which may impact negatively on the value of the scheduled Torri ta’ Cumbo, which is located just 10 metres away from the site.

The SCH has also listed a number of archaeological remains recorded in the vicinity of the site, including a small catacomb and a Knight’s Period water channel that runs along Triq Durumblat. 

An identical project had already been proposed on the same site by Earslbury Consulting Limited, a company owned by British national Andrew Howard back in 2019.  The application was later withdrawn.

Back in 2005, the Planning Authority had refused an application to develop the area into a facility for international and domestic fairs. The application presented at that time also envisaged the development of sports and entertainment facilities.

Moviment Graffitti is objecting to the latest application describing it as “shocking.”

“This massive development should not even be considered since it would gobble an unprecedented amount of ODZ land for an intensive development that will severely threaten open spaces, agriculture, historical remains and quality of life,” Graffitti said.