Faithful to get better experience at Ta’ Pinu

Pilgrims travelling to the popular Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary in Għarb will no longer have to weave their way through a maze of cars parked on the parvis as the building of a car park and retreat centre has been cleared.

The project, unanimously approved yesterday by the planning authority board, includes a 16-bedroom retreat centre, a visitors’ centre and a 90-plus car park.

The facilities would only improve the area around the sanctuary, making it a better experience for the faithful, project architect Keith Cole said.

The project was all about “sensitive intervention”, which could be partly reversible. The car park will be built in a disused field of disturbed land across the road from the sanctuary, leaving the church parvis clear to become pedestrianised. “The parvis is used in a disorganised and, sometimes, dangerous way with all those cars parked there instead of serving as an area for religious functions,” Mr Cole said.

He pointed out that the car park, that will cover an area of 2,900 square metres, would be shrouded in shrubs and greenery while the ground would be covered in hollow diamond shaped stones to allow the grass to grow through.

The disused building below the sanctuary will be converted into a retreat centre with 16 guest rooms and lounges on two floors with a lift and a stairway. It will also include a library, a meeting room, space for prayers, a sacristy and a confessional.

The visitors’ centre will replace the existing buildings opposite the church and will house a police station, toilets, a tourist information office, a storage area and a souvenir shop.

More than 269,706 people –including 168,000 foreigners – visited the sanctuary in organised coach tours last year, a 16 per cent increase over 2010.

The project was recommended for approval by the case officer and fell in line with the policies for the area.

Planning authority chairman Austin Walker said that the project was an improvement over the present situation but expressed his personal doubts whether the car park would suffice to meet the sanctuary’s needs.