Mosta local council supports underground parking project
Mosta Local Council said yesterday that it is in full support of the underground parking initiative launched by Projects Malta, which will see a yet-to-be determined concessionaire enter into a public private partnership with the government to oversee its development and management.
The council has also proposed that all streets in the locality have painted designated parking slots. It believed this will cost around €175,000 for 15,000 parking bays.
Mosta Mayor Edwin Vassallo suggested that CPPS funds administered by the Planning Authority (PA) the local council may be able to finance the painting of each parking bay.
The council also spoke of waiting for the government to approve a residential parking scheme, so that Mosta residents will be given priority in respect of parking. “The council unanimously agrees that there is space for an underground car park in the centre of Mosta that can cater for some 400 vehicles. It also agrees with the public private partnership model, and quickly informed the government of this agreement, allowing the development process to be speeded up under the authority of the government itself.”
The council wishes to inform the public that while visual diagrams have already been shown by the local media, currently there is no final plan for this project.
“Should this project in any way affect Mosta Dome Church, it will be stopped immediately and without hesitation. After consultation, Projects Malta identified four possible sites for this parking initiative. All four are equally able to withstand an underground parking scheme and there is no condition stipulating that the underground project must be next to the Church. Conditions of the project say that no excavation can take place underneath the ossuary or the Church.”
The scope of the project is to create alternative parking areas, mitigate the congestion created from the many cars that waste time driving around the centre in the hope of finding a parking spot, create an open public space and reduce the number of tourist coaches clustered in the centre.