Concern over Citadel car park

The planning authority’s environment arm has criticised a proposal by the Gozo Curia to transform fields around the Citadel into a car park. The Environment Protection Directorate “has significant concerns about the permanent land take-up associated with the car park, particularly due to the close proximity to the Citadel,” it said in a report. The directorate also disagreed with a conclusion in the environment assessment report – which forms part of a development application being considered by the planning authority – that the change in land use from “natural vegetation to a car park is of minor significance”. “The car park will entail significant land take-up in a sensitive area and the site is also a candidate for inclusion on the Unesco World Heritage List,” the directorate said. The Curia intends to develop a parking area with 84 spaces, split over two levels, and to stabilise the slopes at the site outside the Citadel in an area known as Ir-Raba’ Ta’ Wara s-Sur. The land covers 6,000 square metres over three terraced levels and falls outside the development zone in Victoria. It is also designated as a Special Area of Conservation and Area of High Landscape Value. The...