The Mepa Board today approved a development application which will see the site of the disused 7-Up factory in Sta Venera replaced by a complex of 129 residential units built around a piazza. There will also be 10 shops and 370 underground parking spaces/garages over three floors.

The development will front three streets - St Joseph High Road, Qormi Road and Parades Street. The old factory workers' building in St Joseph High Road will be retained and used for commercial purposes. 

The development was scaled down from the original proposal which had provided for 169 residential units. That proposal was rejected after the Mepa board considered it as excessive, leading to over-development of the site.

The Mepa Planning Directorate recommended approval of the amended proposal after noting that proposed semi-basement residential units had been removed, creating more parking space. The directorate noted that there was now more public space and most of the development would now have an above-ground height of three floors and a receding penthouse, which was acceptable in terms of the Central Malta Local Plan. The development along St Joseph High Road will be at the same level as other buildings.

The permit was approved unanimously by the Mepa Board, which imposed a €30,000 bank guarantee to ensure that permit conditions are respected and no damage is caused to any parts of the historic acquaduct that may survive within the site. The conditions also provide that construction vehicles will not access the site from busy St Joseph High Road.