‘Car park extension is not disabled-friendly’

Plans for a Sliema car park extension, which would include a cocktail bar and a lounge area, have been shot down by a planning authority case officer on grounds of lack of accessibility for people with disability.

The final decision is expected in October.

The case officer mainly based his recommendation on objections raised by the National Commission for People with a Disability, which noted that sanitary facilities, ramps and lifts were not user-friendly to all visitors.

An objector to the car park, Maria Mercieca, who lives next door, complained about the shade and humidity that the new extension would cause, claiming that the situation could even give rise to “arthritis problems”.

The objector’s lawyer, Antonio Tufigno, said the project proposal was riding on the wave of Sliema’s parking problems and residents in Cathedral Street would now “have to face a wall that dwarfs everything”.

The hearing was put off to October 11.