PA’s three-month direct action in Ta’ Qali makes way for new public recreational area

A 50,000sq.m site in Ta’ Qali which is approximately the size of seven football pitches, has, over the past three months, been entirely cleared of tons of illegally dumped construction material and an abandoned factory.

Following this direct action operation carried out by officers within the Planning Authority’s Compliance & Enforcement Directorate, the site will now be given back to the public for recreational purposes as part of a much bigger project, namely, the establishment of the Malta National Park.

The operation got underway after the Authority received and investigated various reports that illegal dumping was taking place in this abandoned area in Ta’ Qali, at a site which in the past served as an industrial area but today was easily accessible to the public who frequented the area for recreational purposes.

From investigations it was found that the area was turned into a dumping site and was posing a significant danger.

Initially the direct action consisted in the removal of the dumped material, abandoned heavy machinery and large amounts of precast waste.

During the operation the PA established that the two large abandoned concrete manufacturing plants, also within the same area, were structurally unstable.

To eliminate any danger within the site, the 8,100sq.m factory structures were demolished.

Following consultation with the Superintendence of Culture Heritage a number of World War 2 Nissen huts were retained and are to be kept protected due to their historical importance.

Over 1,200 truckloads of dumped material were removed from the site and transported to a licensed landfill. Inert material was brought in to homogeneously level the site and leave the area in a safe state for the public.

This 50,000sq.m site is being added to other disused and derelict zones around the existing Ta’ Qali Park with the purpose of considerably increasing the area of the national park.

The Malta National Park project will see the current park enlarged to 450,000sq.m by freeing disused and derelict tracts of surrounding land.

The upgraded park will include a new, green-roofed building to house the national archives and which will be located close to the current basketball facilities.

Nearby, a botanical archive is also being proposed as an educational extension to the research facility.

Existing leisure areas shall be retained and have their infrastructure upgraded, while new ones (event spaces, art park, skate garden, playgrounds) will be integrated within the new national park.

A number of roads crisscrossing the park will disappear entirely while others will be grass-paved for service vehicles entering the park.

The new park will be framed by a recognisable green belt and linked to its surrounding villages by means of dedicated pedestrian and cycling lanes.

A drastic reduction of tarmacked surfaces and vehicles accessing the green zones is being proposed, with a number of new facilities which will help enlarge the recreation network already in place.

As a result, the homogenisation of all the various sites and elimination of abandoned areas will make the park feel safer to families and easier to navigate within.