New 700 student St Albert The Great College planned for Għaxaq
A college that will cater for 700 students is planned on the periphery of Għaxaq, The Malta In
dependent is informed.
The development is planned on Triq il-Ħareb and Dawret Ħal Għaxaq and is for the St Albert the Great College.
While the Planning Application is not yet viewable on the Planning Authority’s website, this newsroom has seen the Project Description Statement filed with the Environment and Resources Authority.
“The project site is the property of the Dominican Province of Malta, who owns and operates St Albert the Great Community College in Valletta. The Province has long felt the need to provide a modern and spacious alternative to the school premises in Valletta, which are more than 70 years old and lack sufficient room for lecturers, for laboratories, sports and extra-curricular activities,” the documentation read.
The objective, the documents read, is not only to conform fully to the National Curriculum but also to place the institution, both in terms of the physical facilities and also the philosophical ethos, in a location more easily accessible to families in the southern half of the island.
The proposed new school will cater for around 700 co-ed students, aged between 4 to 15 years. “The school population has been reduced from 3-streams per year, to 2-streams per year. The school will require 120 academic staff and 15 non-academic staff for activities, administration, and upkeep, the documentation reads.
“The proposal includes the construction of four separate low-lying blocks, namely: Early and Middle school (Block 1), Administration and Kindergarten (Block 2), Senior school (Block 3) and Childcare centre. In addition to these blocks, there are (underground) indoor sports facilities, external sport facilities, underground car parking and an underground auditorium planned.
Block 1 on the Triq il-Ħareb frontage is planned to be three storeys high, “of which only the first and second floors are actually above the level of the road. This building is not monolithic but has several terraces and setbacks.”
Block 2 on the Dawret Ħal Għaxaq frontage is planned to be two storeys high and will have two car-park basements underneath it (levels -1 and -2). The ground floor of this block is at the level of the parents’ dedicated drop-off parking, while the first floor is at the level of the coaches’ drop-off.
Block 3 is planned to be set back from both streets. It too is planned to be two storeys high, with a double-height auditorium underneath, at basement level. This space can seat 392 persons and will be connected directly to the car park (at level -2) via a wide tunnel. “In addition, there will also be an indoor sports hall, completely underground, underlying the external basketball court. To give separate access to the sports areas, there will be a minor secondary entrance from Triq il-Ħareb, in the southern half. This enables the community to have independent access to the sports facilities, with dedicated changing, locker, and ablution rooms located completely underground (partly beneath the secondary entrance).”
“At the southern-most end of the site there is a small child care centre catering primarily for teachers’ children, numbering approximately 20, complete with sheltered external play areas. This facility is served through an un-named lane forming the southern site boundary, together with a small area for drop-off parking and vehicle turning. This end also serves as an emergency entrance and exit for the sports fields.”
The Project Description statement reads that the site under consideration was selected “after a painstaking selection exercise, with the assistance of the Planning Directorate of the Planning Authority, and eventually designated in the South Malta Local Plan for the specific purpose of erecting co-educational schools. The site was originally intended for St. Albert the Great Community College and the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. Subsequently, TBA Periti on behalf of the Dominican Friars had submitted an Outline Development Permit Application (in 2006), for the construction of two separate schools, in line with the South Malta Local Plan. This proposal, which occupied an area of 71,740m2, included also a school for the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. However, for various reasons, this application was not pursued, and was eventually withdrawn at the request of the applicant in April 2018.”
This current application, submitted by the Dominican Friars, includes a proposal for one school, St. Albert the Great Community College, with ancillary sport facilities and a child care centre. “The revised project now occupies a reduced area of 35,970m2, with approximately 4,500m2 of the site being retained in its current state, that is undeveloped, to accommodate dense landscaping and educational horticultural activities, the documentation reads. “The present proposal has a land up-take, of about 31,500m2, appreciably less than the original proposal and intention.”
It is estimated that 98 trees will have to be removed to allow the development to take place, and “a desk exercise was undertaken by the landscape consultant to calculate the extent of compensatory planting that is required by the regulations, based on the ages of the trees, to offset their removal. This number works out at 720 should all the envisaged trees be uprooted. The compensatory trees will be located throughout the site and concentrated in the north-east corner which is intended for didactic horticulture.”