Plans for the beleaguered Ta’ Qali crafts village may change yet again, with a pending application to review the area’s master plan.

The application is to discard the last proposal to redesign it and instead “consolidate the existing layout” with additions in the southeast corner.

The crafts village is situated in the area where Nissen huts once formed part of an airfield in the centre of Ta’ Qali, south of the football stadium.

The village had been on the agenda of the previous Administration for several years, with different ministers proposing upgrade options, but very little has been done to stop its deterioration. (See timeline below.)

A hearing is scheduled in three weeks’ time before the planning authority board so a further delay may be on the cards – it is not yet clear whether the set-up of the authority will change under the new Labour government.

Under amendments to the master plan, approved in 2007, the number of units would fall to 66 from the original 93 and the built footprint would be reduced from 21,940 square metres to 21,481, which would cover 29 per cent of the whole site.

The latest proposal would keep the original historical layout and a considerable number of historical elements on site.

The several piazzas in the approved master plan would be replaced with a central piazza and several walkways for pedestrians.

Twenty-one years of planning . . .

• 1992. Finance Minister George Bonello du Puis announces plans to rehabilitate the area.

• May 1994. The Planning Authority approves plans for a crafts village.

• June 1998. Permits for the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village project are issued and the Malta Development Corporation issues letters of intent to owners of shops at the village.

• July 2000. The Government says all the necessary plans are approved and the crafts village can get going through a public private partnership.

• January 2001. During a presentation of the plan for Ta’ Qali, Minister Tonio Borg announces that the public consultation on the crafts village will be finished in March. Dr Borg says the Cabinet has to approve the project within six weeks and award tenders for the work to begin.

• 2002. Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo assumes responsibility for the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village project. An approved development brief on the project is issued.

• November 2003. In the budget speech, Finance Minister John Dalli promises that the Government “shall now construct the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village”.

• August 2004. Mr Vassallo says the consultation process of the Ta’ Qali project with 80 families and the Land Department is over and families will soon be called to sign the promise of sale agreement.

• April 2005. Labour appeals to the Government to take up the crafts village project again.

• January 2006. Mr Vassallo announces that the Government will issue plans for the refur­bishment of the crafts village in Ta’ Qali.

• September 2006. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi announces that the project will soon start.

• February 2007. Urban Development Minister Jesmond Mugliett says the project will be launched soon.

• July 2007. The Government launches the new Ta’ Qali Crafts Village project.

• February 2008. The Nationalist Party says in its electoral programme for the general election that “everything is now ready to begin the €28 million project on the crafts village at Ta’ Qali. This will take four years to complete”.

• February 2008. The call for tenders to construct the Ta’ Qali crafts village closes. Eight submissions are made.

• October 2008. Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt announces in Parliament that the Ta’ Qali Crafts Village project is being revised after an application for EU funding was refused.

• January 2009. Dr Gatt announces plans for rebuilding the Ta’ Qali crafts village have stopped and the Government plans to transform the Dock No.1 area in Cospicua into an Arts and Crafts Centre. Tenants hate the idea and so does Mr Mugliett.

• May 2009. Finance Minister Tonio Fenech says the Artisan centre proposal in Dock 1 will be a separate project and will not mean that anyone will be forced to move their workshop there. A consultation process begins with tenants to pave a way forward.

• July 2009. The Government announces a new master plan is being drawn up for the crafts village after the last one was scrapped in 2008, having failed to qualify for EU funding.

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