Residents of Tal-Virtu, Rabat, have signed a petition calling on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) to re-examine the process used to analyse the planning application for the extension of the Archbishop’s Seminary in Tal-Virtu, and to re-examine its decision to approve the issue of the full development permit.
The extension will house a primary school
The residents said that if necessary, Mepa should revoke or modify the permit.
The petition was submitted to Mepa Chairman and copied to the Mepa Auditor together with a memorandum drawn up by a core group of these residents, detailing their objections to the way the development application was handled.
The residents have also written to the Archbishop requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the issue. However, no reaction has been received to date.
The residents said the Rabat Mayor had promised the residents his full support on this issue.
The residents are claiming that the Mepa Directorate assessment report (DPA) on which the Mepa/Development Control Commission (DCC) board based its decision to issue the permit, bypassed many of Mepa’s own governing and controlling policies.
They argued that the development did not respect Rabat area policy NWRB7 of the North West Local Plan, which states, inter alia, that “there is a presumption against further development” within the Seminary grounds, and that the only expansion that is deemed “necessary and essential” should be permitted.
Furthermore, the residents said, it was neither necessary nor essential for the Seminary school to build a primary school within its grounds as there were other options available for the school to conform with the national education reform obliging Church schools to do away with examinations for the transition between primary and secondary education sectors.
These options included building a new primary school in a different location, buying or merging with an already existing primary school, or adopting a ballot system for admission to the secondary school instead of using examinations. Indeed, the residents point out that various other Church schools, such as St Aloysius’ College, Birkirkara, and Savio College in Dingli, have sensibly opted for these solutions.
The development, they said, also includes the proposed extension of the Seminary’s ‘vocational centre’, or retreat house. However, the residents argued that on the Seminary grounds there are underutilised buildings which could have been used for this purpose.
This showed that the development at the Seminary were not “essential and necessary”, but an option chosen by the Seminary which conflicted with the policy governing the further expansion of buildings within the Seminary grounds.
The residents also alleged that the DPA report failed to take into consideration the effect of the development on Tal-Virtu, which is designated by Mepa as a Residential Priority Area.
"This designation in itself should have assured the residents in the area that no development that affects the residential area negatively would ever be considered. This also applies to other aspects of development project proposals such as traffic generation and noise pollution."
The school is located at the end of a cul-de-sac and there is only a partially one-way road – Tal-Virtu Road – providing access between the school and the main arterial road – Borg Olivier Street. In order to enter or exit the school, all traffic has to pass through minor and secondary residential streets of Tal-Virtu and the adjacent area of Rabat. This already causes inconvenience now, when the school caters for only 250 students.
The planned expansion of the school will raise the student population by 230% from 250 to an estimated 825 students, besides increasing the number of staff by 60.