The government has approved plans for a parking area in the City Gate ditch, but it will not be visible from the main entrance, according to Valletta Mayor Alexiei Dingli.

The project was approved by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici as part of a €1million fund for capital projects by local councils and announced earlier today.

The car park proposal was submitted by the Valletta local council and approved by a board set up to select projects for the special fund.

Prof. Dingli told Times of Malta that the entire area, known as Yellow Garage was estimated to take around 1,000 parking bays, however, the entire ditch would not be used for the project.

Instead, vehicles will enter through a slip road near the Excelsior Hotel and spots will run until just before the area beneath the City Gate Bridge.

“You won’t see any cars from the bridge, there will be a garden there as planned,” he said.

Last month Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said no decision had yet been taken as to whether a car park would replace previous plans for a garden in the ditch.

The proposal had irked local architects, who took to social media to urge the government not to replace the garden with “unsightly” parking slots.

Access to the ditch has been closed since late 2010 when works on the Valletta entrance project first started.