The site would sit beside the historic Ta' Brija cemetery — already a burial landmark on the edge of the village — but the land itself is designated outside the development zone. According to Lovin Malta, the recommendation comes despite objections over agricultural land loss and the project's impact on the surrounding rural landscape. The Times of Malta reports that the local council has raised specific concerns about traffic and emissions, in addition to the loss of farmland.
A directorate recommendation is not a final decision. The full Planning Authority board still has to vote, and objectors retain the right to make representations before that stage. The distinction matters: projects reach this point regularly and still fall at the board.
What the recommendation does confirm is that the directorate judged the case strong enough to pass its own scrutiny, on ODZ land, with a local council formally opposed. The outstanding question is whether the board will weigh the agricultural designation differently — and whether 2,480 columbaria units, a figure that implies significant commercial scale, sits comfortably beside the heritage argument that rural land beside a historic cemetery warrants extra protection rather than less.
Harvey Specter Jr. 
Elena Vella 
Marcus Azzopardi 
Dua Mifsud