Planning Authority to fund 13 community projects

The projects, distributed across eight localities, will see the PA invest over €475,000

The Planning Authority will be funding 13 community projects in eight localities, worth over €475,000.

In a statement on Saturday, the PA said the project included embellishment and restoration works, the upgrading of playing fields and the planting of trees.

One of the project, said the PA, involved embellishment of an area in Pieta in the vicinity of the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. It said works would include the upgrading of footpaths, improved road safety and traffic management.

The project also includes a replica of a drinking water fountain which had been installed in the area at the end of the 19th century.

Another of the projects will involve the restoration of a street shrine located in Triq Grognet, corner with Triq San Gwann in Mosta.

“This statue together with other similar ones around Mosta lies within the Heritage Trail which will be created to lead tourists around the attractions of the village. The statue shows clear signs of deterioration,” the PA said.

Within the same locality, the PA said a number streetlamps will be changed to ones that are “aesthically more compatible with the character” of the village core. “These streetlamps also have a low light pollution footprint, are low in glare and more efficient, resulting in a greener lighting scheme with less nuisance to neighbours, less maintenance requirements and more environmentally friendly.”

In the localities of Nadur and Dingli, embellishment works will be carried out in five public gardens. Works will include the replacement of playing field equipment and safety flooring, installation of CCTV camera and upgrading of sanitary facilities.

In Sliema, the PA siad it would be trying to “introduce a degree of greenery” by planting a number of indigenous tree species along Triq Sir Adrian Dingli, while in Santa Lucija, a number of litter bins will be replaced with new more hygienic ones.

The Authority is also partially funding a bas relief sculpture which is to be installed within San Anton Graden’s next to the Presidential Palace and which will honour Maltese grandparents.

Since the start of the year, the PA has funded over €5 million in community project through its Development Planning Fund (DPF).