Mercury House: only 9% agreed with second tower

Only 9% of St Julian’s and Paceville residents agreed with the addition of a second tower to the Mercury House development approved last week by the Planning Authority.

The social impact study, held last year, found that 9% of residents ‘agreed’ with the project while 56% per ‘disagreed’. A substantial 35% said it made no difference to them.

The SIA’s authors Marvin Formosa and Maria Brown, who also held interviews with key stakeholders, said “most respondents’ replies demonstrated a great degree of mistrust, bordering on bitterness towards the construction and building industry, the so-called żviluppaturi”.

Disagreement with the project was mainly motivated by the perception that Malta, and Paceville in particular, is already overly developed; that building is too high and will continue to ruin the skyline; the negative impact of construction on the environment, and the project’s contribution to increasing traffic and parking congestion in the Paceville and St. Julian’s.

On the other hand, those who agreed with the project referred to the potential to upgrade, embellish and clean the area in question, a wider selection for leisure and entertainment outings and greater job opportunities for a wide range of skilled workers and professionals.

The survey found respondents with lower levels of educational attainment levels being less opposed to the project than more educated peers. In fact, disagreement with the project ranges from 53% among respondents with a secondary level of education, to 69% among the university-educated. Those with a tertiary education were also the least indifferent to the project. While among other educational cohorts over 38% were indifferent, this sentiment prevailed among just 19% of the university-educated.

Opposition was higher among residents who live in Paceville, where opposition rises to 62%.

Among those aged 18-29, a majority of 52% said the project made no difference to them. Agreement with the project was highest at 15% among teh 30-49 age group, and lowest among 50-69 (6%).

Moreover, the majority perceived the project to bring ‘no’ positive impacts to the locality. When asked to state a positive aspect about the project, 37% replied that it will bring no positive changes.

The SIA reports a “construction fatigue” which is taking a toll on residents’ “mental and emotional wellbeing”.

The SIA recommended a number of mitigation recommendations, including a user- friendly and well-maintained grievance redress system and the minimisation of construction waste, dust generation and emissions.

The survey was conducted in November 2019 before the tower was downscaled from 23 to 19 floors. Instead the project now includes three extra floors on the main tower, which will now rise to 34 floors, and a 19-storey hotel next to it.

The latest approval increases the number of residential apartments from the 275 approved two years ago to 429 as a result of another nine-floor building, called Mercury Suites.

Business and retail operators working in the vicinity of Mercury House were positive towards this development as this was perceived to have the potential to increase investment and jobs in the locality. “This is good. It is good for the country, it brings money. Everybody wants to come to Malta, not just the poor immigrant. So if there is money you can go to the bank get a loan and buy a house. This is happening only here. Only here things are going well,” a foreign employee working in tourist shop close to the site of the development said.

But this sentiment was not felt by most residents. “The country is shattered, there is a crane in every street. Is this how we want Malta to be? A Master Plan was being planned, master-shafting, I say!” a 50-year-old resident said.