Double whammy for Paola as PA denies council €75,000 from Triq Bormla permit

The Planning Authority has accepted a request by the developers of a controversial 17-block apartment overlooking Triq Bormla in Paola to reduce their contribution to the authority’s parking fund from the €110,000 imposed in January to €35,000.

The funds raised through the contribution are used to fund traffic management, green transport, urban improvements or similar projects in the locality.

The contribution is paid in lieu of parking spaces not provided for in the development. In this case the PA had calculated that the development would result in a shortfall of 16 parking spaces.

But the developers insisted that since the area is designated as a Student Priority Area, where one bedroom studio flats are allowed, the number of parking spaces lost would amount to seven.    

Paola mayor Dominic Grima attended the meeting together with council architect Jesmond Mugliett. 

Apart from objecting to the request to reduce the parking contribution, both forcefully argued that the permit for the five-storey block, should not have been issued in the first place as it was in breach of the height limitation for the urban conservation area.

In reply board Chairman Martin Camilleri presented a document showing that the council had been informed about the application on 1 April 2022. 

The local council is also objecting to the designation of the area as a Student Priority Area.

Mugliett described that this is a recipe for creating more substandard housing in the locality.

Mugliett also objecting to the request by the developers to reduce the parking contribution which would mean denying the locality from precious funds.

“The residents will now not only suffer from an intensification of development and from the loss of parking spaces but will be denied from funds which benefit the locality”

Mugliett described this as a “grave injustice” to Paola which will be suffering the brunt of the intensification of development.

Mayor Dominic Grima insisted that instead of reducing the parking contribution, the PA should impose an even higher contribution to compensate for the impact on the locality.

Architect Maria Schembri Grima who chaired the Building and Construction Authority when the permit was approved in January described the claim that the building is substandard as an “insult” to students and people living in studio apartments. She also criticised the council for only speaking up about the project now.

“This is very irresponsible considering that people have taken a loan to buy these apartments,” she said.

The architect justified the request to decrease the parking tariff by referring to several other cases in student areas where a lower rate for lost parking spaces was applied. “The PA cannot apply different standards to different applicants.”

The project is being proposed by Trivium Limited, a company partly owned by Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli.