The developer of an apartment block with a rooftop public garden in Marsascala has six months to sign a contract with the planning authority to ensure the public space is “adequately landscaped and maintained”.
The developer was issued with a permit yesterday by the Development Control Commission to build 29 apartments at the site formerly known as the Etvan Hotel gardens.
The local plan had designated the area for commercial and residential development as long as a rooftop public garden is built. The public space will be accessible from Baħħara Street on the backside of the development and will be three storeys above the coast road.
“The Malta Environment and Planning Authority imposed a permit condition that, within six months of the issue of this development permission, the applicant shall enter into a public deed with Mepa to ensure the public urban open space is adequately landscaped and maintained and is used for the enjoyment of the public as stipulated in the South Malta local plan,” a spokesman for the development regulator said.
Residents who attended the meeting yesterday when the permit was issued aired their concern that the garden would not remain a public area and would be closed off with gates similar to the state of the site that has been used as a deckchair area for the developers’ nearby hotel.
However, the Mepa spokesman insisted the authority “did not endorse and approve” any gates or walls to be constructed around the public garden.
Approval was given after the developer submitted fresh plans with minor amendments to improve access to the garden.
The DCC chairman insisted she would not allow any fresh discussion on the project and asked the board members to immediately cast their vote. The project was approved unanimously.
Architect Carmel Cacopardo, representing residents, was not allowed to put questions on who would be responsible for the maintenance and safety of the public garden, given that the Marsascala council had never commented on the project.
At its last meeting on July 20, the DCC had accepted a request by residents for water tanks, satellite dishes, solar heaters, photovoltaic panels and air conditioning units not to be placed in the public area of the roof of the apartment block.
The coordinator of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Astrid Vella shot down Mepa’s decision, insisting the regulator showed it did not care enough for the safety of residents.
She said the number of shafts in the public area could pose a danger for children playing in the garden. Residents had called for a safety risk assessment of the site, a plea that went unheeded, according to Ms Vella.