Located in a disused quarry at ix-Xoqqiet, Benghisa, the proposed fuel storage station plant site is adjacent to the existing Oil Tanking fuel transhipment depot. It has a site area of approximately 77,000 square metres. The site caters for storage facilities of fuel and a bottling and distribution depot and the proposed plant will improve on importation, bottling and distribution. Importation will be carried out from the Malta Freeport area and therefore no new quay and port facilities will be constructed.   The location of the plant lies away from residential areas for safety and near a sheltered port to avoid expensive and potentially dangerous pipelines.

The Outline Development Permission for Pender Place and Mercury House was approved on the basis of the Development Brief recently issued for the areas. The application is for a multi-use development mainly consisting of residential, tourism, commercial, and public car parking facilities. The sites to be developed are currently a public surface car park and a compound comprising Mercury House and Maltacom facilities.

The proposal for Pender Place consist of a series of buildings of varying heights, including tall buildings fronting St. Andrew’s Road and revolving round a considerable landscaped central open space. The buildings facing St Andrews Road are a mix of commercial and residential. MEPA explained that the two sites of Pender Place and Mercury House are linked via a pedestrian bridge which gives the opportunity for the patrons to travel safely from the commercial aspect of the project at Pender Place to the Mercury House Site.

In a statement MEPA said that in line with the recommendations of the Development Brief, the Mercury House Site, will consist in commercial buildings, including a tower block, which will house the tourist accommodation, a supermarket, commercial outlets and residential apartments. Mercury House, which is a scheduled building, will remain protected.

MEPA also said that the designs are the result of a long process of discussion. The Authority conducted three-way discussions with both residents and developers. In this way, MEPA was able to propose changes in the project which addressed the concerns of the residents and which were deemed acceptable to the developers of this multi million project.