Luqa Park Development Brief
Development briefs details table data
| Approval date |
27-02-2007 |
1. Background
There are currently no organized parking facilities for trailers as a consequence of which these are generally being parked in various port areas such as Marsa although they also tend to encroach other areas e.g. within and outside industrial areas. It is generally accepted that the parking of these vehicles creates traffic hazard, visual intrusion and in certain instances bad neighbourliness. Nevertheless, no concerted effort has been made so far to examine this problem in a holistic way either at a strategic or at a macro level. It is important therefore, that a site is identified in the Maltese Islands that could largely help to reduce this pressure. Towards this end a site known as the former Luqa Dump has been identified for the provision of a centralized facility for the parking and maintenance of trailers. A trailer is defined as a heavy commercial vehicle with an overall length ranging from 12 to 15.5 m.
Land for the siting of Micro-Enterprises is perceived to be an important national issue in the Maltese islands. Despite the fact that a considerable amount of private industrial land is still vacant, there is little take up due to the high price requested. As a consequence, MIP and MEPA are under constant pressure to accommodate the spatial requirements of this sector. These enterprises are also associated with the degradation of the environment of residential areas, which has led to an exacerbation of the pressure for their relocation from these areas. In order to ascertain the factors/opportunities offered by this sector, a study had jointly been commissioned by IPSE, MDC and PA. Pending the findings of this study, it is widely acknowledged that the establishment of certain sectors of these enterprises tends to generate problems since the activities undertaken by them are incompatible with their present environment and hence need to be relocated. The pressure for the provision of land to accommodate these relocations is increasing and measures to alleviate this demand are needed. Luqa has a considerable amount of SME’s within residential areas and the creation of an SME Park in the vicinity is bound to cater for any potential relocations from Luqa and adjoining towns and villages.
Civic Amenity Sites serve as regional managed collection points for waste material which is mainly bulky in character. The siting of these facilities is always problematic since if it is considered to be a disamenity when located in residential areas. The location of the site itself is ideal as it is offers good proximity to different localities without creating a nuisance to residential areas since the site is quite distant from the residential area of Luqa. MEPA has identified a site within the locality of Luqa to accommodate the recreational area originally intended within Luqa Park .
The demand for the provision of these facilities necessitates the development of a commercial park.
2. Documents