ODZ supermarket proposal returns on Birkirkara bypass

A brand new supermarket beckons, proposed on the Dun Karm Psaila ‘Birkirkara’ bypass outside development zones on 5,500sq.m of land.

The land is owned by Jason Pace, the same agricultural plot once earmarked for a Lidl supermarket in 2015 but later withdrawn.

Both environmentalists and the Malta Developers Association had protested against the ODZ development, with former MDA boss Sandro Chetcuti complaining about the uneven playing field for those operators buying premium in development zones, while others acquire cheap ODZ land.

The proposed supermarket will be metres away from another major four-storey office block, proposed on an existing townhouse and its extensive gardens which lie outside the development zones. Both projects abut on the narrow, rural Sqaq it-Tiġieġ alley.

And the Birkirkara bypass is already the site of another proposed supermarket and 27-apartment block, on a 4,000sq.m plot next to the Scan outlet, this time within the building zones.

Although sandwiched between Birkirkara and the San Gwann industrial area and Mater Dei hospital, the ODZ status of the area creates a buffer between the two densely urbanised localities.

The Planning Authority’s own policy regulating supermarkets shows a preference for supermarkets located inside, or at the edge of town centres, to minimise car use, aimed at encouraging multi-purpose trips and making supermarkets accessible by public transport. But between 2006 and 2008 the PA had still controversially approved two Lidl supermarkets outside the development zones in Luqa and Safi.