Updated at 4.05pm with PA's approval

The Planning Authority today approved the first phase of the American University of Malta (AUM) project at Dock 1 in Cospicua with Nationalist MP Ryan Callus and NGOs representative Anick Bonello voting against.

A planning gain contribution of €50,000 has to be made by the developers to go towards the improvement of the locality.

The first phase will see the rehabilitation of two British-era buildings on the Cospicua waterfront and the construction of an additional floor above the two-storey buildings in a contemporary, glass-and-steel design.

The PA case officer recommended the application for approval on the basis that it "gives an adequate use to a disused historic building within an urban area", which formed an integral part of the dock yard and is deemed to have architectural and industrial heritage significance.

Mr Callus said the project was inextricably tied to Żonqor and he could not vote in favour when considering the entire project, which would involve the take up of so much land Outside Development Zone.

The PA's failure to consider this in discussions was a failure of transparency and good governance, he said, adding his concerns about parking at the Cospicua site.

The campus will cater for 500 students and employ 40 staff, requiring 324 parking spaces, but the current application does not include any parking provision.

The case officer noted only that “the application is the first phase of a larger project which will be required to address the overall parking provision of the entire educational institution.”

A prior development brief for the Dock 1 area called for the British buildings to be rehabilitated for cultural and heritage venues conveying the history of the site, or “tastefully” converted for residential, retail and catering uses.

Approval recommended on the basis that it gives an adequate use to a disused historic building... with architectural and industrial significance

The waterside promenade in front of the building was the subject of an €11 million regeneration project two years ago and will remain accessible to the public. An adjacent Knights-era structure, which also forms part of the AUM project, does not form part of the application being heard by the PA today and will be considered separately.

The decision to relocate half the AUM campus to Cospicua was taken last August following widespread environmental protests against the original plans for a single campus on 90,000 square metres of ODZ land at Żonqor Point in Marsascala.

No planning application has so far been submitted for the Żonqor campus, which will be built on a reduced footprint.

A side effect of the campus in Cospicua is expected to be its impact on the housing in the area, currently known for its cheap rental properties.

Poverty campaigners have said that the prospect of the new university development has already started pushing rents up, while Cospicua mayor Alison Zerafa Civelli told the Times of Malta this week that the regeneration could help the town shed the stigma of social housing that has plagued it for years.

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