Carnival village in Marsa set to triple in size
EU funds still being sought to cover the cost of the project
The carnival village proposed in Marsa has tripled in size and will almost double in height, according to new plans filed with the Planning Authority.
The village is expected to create an additional 1,000 daily car trips and may have a significant archaeological impact, given that items of archaeological importance have already been unearthed during preliminary works.
The Environment and Resources Authority has given its no objection to the proposed project from an environmental point of view, despite its massive size, concluding in its environmental impact screening process that the environmental impacts of the proposed development are unlikely to be significant.
The proposal, spearheaded by Festivals Malta, is a revision of the ‘Malta Carnival Experience’ project approved by the PA in
October 2016. Work on the project never began, so fresh plans were submitted for the project to become an Arts and Culture Community Hub.
The revised proposal includes all previously approved workshop spaces, dance studios, museum, audio-visual centre, orientation centre, cafeteria, offices, reception area, security room, stores and parking.
It will now include a newly proposed 5D cinema, an indoor and outdoor theatre and rock band studios. When compared to the previous proposal, the total gross floor area would increase from 26,970 square metres to 77,200 square metres – an increase of 286%.
The built footprint would decrease from 19,215 square metres to 13,010 square metres.
As a result of the considerable increase in gross floor area and reduced footprint, the massing would intensify to five floors, with an associated increase in building height from 12 metres to 16.6 metres on Triq il-Biċċerija and to almost 22 metres on Triq Troubridge.
Once the hub is up and running, the revised development would generate additional traffic over what had been anticipated for the approved development, with the annual average daily traffic increasing to 973 daily vehicle trips.
The new project will comprise 30 interactive workshops, covering a total area of just under 6,250 square metres, 22 carnival float workshops covering almost 5,000 square metres and eight carnival costume workshops covering an area of almost 1,400 square metres.
The site is within the Albertown industrial area and is identified in the Grand Harbour local plan as a site for a prime tourism and leisure harbour destination which is innovative, sustainable and socially inclusive.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has recommended the appointment of an archaeological monitor during works.
Excavation works would generate an additional 6,000 tonnes of soil and stone material. The ERA said such waste generation is not considered significant as long as all waste is managed in accordance with regulations.
Despite the heavy increase in traffic generation, the ERA concluded that no significant impacts are envisaged from such traffic generation.
The project was originally featured in the Labour Party’s 2013 electoral manifesto. Three years later, almost €4.2 million of EU funds were allocated to it, and the scheduled end date for the project was set as June 1, 2020.
Yet, despite the Marsa site being chosen, and tenders on the excavation works awarded, work on the project never took off. Sources told Times of Malta that those EU funds were instead diverted to other projects.
“Work on the project never took off