Families who live in the south will finally have a large open space to enjoy after the planning authority approved the long-proposed park in Marsascala this week. Works on the 85,000 square-metre park, located on the site of a former dumping ground, are to start next year and about 3,000 trees are to be planted.

The €6 million EU-funded project dates back to August 2006, when Wasteserv announced it had submitted an outline development plan to convert a disused dumping ground, close to the Sant' Antnin treatment plant, into a family park.

The application was submitted after the Malta Environment and Planning Authority imposed a planning gain permit condition on Wasteserv for the development of the controversial Sant' Antnin waste recycling plant.

In May Mepa gave the go-ahead for the development of an information centre and the restoration of St Anthony's Chapel, which are close to the treatment plant.

Yesterday, the planning board unanimously approved the rehabilitation of the land into the park that will include a small amphitheatre, a farm for animal petting and an equestrian facility.

There will also be a kiosk area, a large open landscaped area, a volleyball and five-a-side football pitch, a tennis court, outdoor gym equipment, a landscaped maze, an agro-tourism products exhibition area, an olive grove, a 100-slot car park and a multi-purpose space.

The Rural Affairs Ministry welcomed the permit for the park and added that this was part of the government's vision to transform closed landfills into environmental parks.

During Thursday's board meeting, Mepa also approved embellishment works along the waterfront of Xatt ir-Risq, in Cospicua, between the Regatta Club and the Freedom Day Monument.

This project, which is part of a wider plan to embellish and make accessible to the public the Dock 1 area and the waterfront around the whole of the creek, will include major landscaping works together with the development of an urban space, a kiosk area, an outside seating area and parking provisions.