Pembroke council objects to new units layout

Pembroke local council has given the thumbs down to the manner in which the former British Services parade ground near the Luxol ground in St Andrews will be developed.

Deputy mayor Charles Bezzina said the council was not against the provision of housing units on the proposed site but was objecting to the layout of the units as suggested by the Housing Authority to Mepa.

There should be more open spaces and green areas in line with the way Pembroke was developed in the past and adherence to plans in the North Harbour Local Plan (NHLP) which earmarks the ground for building development but which provides for part of the park to remain a green area free of development.

The proposed building plan does not respect this provision in the NHLP, Mr Bezzina said. The council, he added, had proposed a parking scheme for residents in Block 7 - a block of ex-services quarters at the edge of the parade ground - and had filed an application for the embellishment of the area with Mepa in connection with the scheme.

Pembroke, named after the 12th Earl of Pembroke and British Secretary of War in 1859, can be described as Malta's newest town and has a population of under 3,000. It is projected that housing will be increased to 7,000 by the year 2006.

For several years, Pembroke was a military area and Maltese residents started to move in after the British Services left Malta in 1979.

When a new pastoral zone for Ibrag was created, Pembroke started to form part of this zone until 1998 when, due to the pastoral needs of residents in Pembroke, the Church issued an Episcopal decree by which a new zone was created. A new church is now being built.

Mr Bezzina said developers had to be very careful not to allow new development to negatively effect the "character" of Pembroke.

The locality was rich with old scheduled buildings and developers needed to be sensitive to this fact, he said, noting the way old buildings were surrounded with open green spaces. "The council would like to see that these spaces are maintained where possible," Mr Bezzina said.

He recalled how plans to develop an afforestation project in Pembroke - with the council being responsible for the repair of old water reservoirs - were scrapped after a change in policy by the government after the last elections.

Part of the project consisted of the development of a picnic area and the council had already installed benches and tables with a view to provide such a facility to residents and picnickers from other localities. However, an application had been filed for the space earmarked by the council as a picnic area to be developed into a tennis court, which will be the third one in Pembroke.

The council had already lodged its objection about this to Mepa, Mr Bezzina said.