Proposed housing at Pembroke would 'blend in'

The Housing Authority has to balance out national and local needs and it was certainly not in its interest to disturb the balance of a locality, authority chairman Marisa Micallef Leyson said.

Pembroke was one of the areas in which the authority had various housing projects and where it tried hard to ensure that projects enhanced the area and blended in with its character, she added.

She was reacting to comments made by Pembroke deputy mayor Charles Bezzina over plans for the building of housing units in the former British Services parade ground near the Luxol grounds in St Andrews.

Mr Bezzina had told The Times that 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 the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

"A drive around Pembroke will show that Housing Authority projects built in the last five years there are a model of good, affordable housing development," Ms Micallef Leyson said.

Ms Micallef Leyson assured The Times there was no application with Mepa for site "G" in question. She said the Housing Authority was looking at proposals for the area but nothing had yet been approved by the board.

"When you have such an important site, you obviously consult a lot of people to strike the right balance between the needs of the locality and its architecture. Therefore it is in our interest to develop something which complements that locality," Ms Micallef Leyson said.

The proposed project aim for site "G" is to develop the ex-parade ground into an affordable housing project integrated with community and commercial facilities while providing a pleasant and attractive living environment.

It is envisaged that some 100 units would be provided with garage and parking facilities underground. The units would be primarily apartments or duplex units, 60 per cent of which would be three-bedroomed and 40 per cent two- and one-bedroomed.

It is being proposed that facilities will include a supermarket and four local shops and a small number of offices may also be included. Other facilities would be a kindergarten and childcare centre.

The design brief also proposes two or three small open areas with some soft landscaping in between blocks. A children's play area is also proposed. The site would be primarily pedestrian, Ms Micallef Leyson said.