Awaiting verdict: Seven planning decisions to watch out for

DB project: major test for new normal

Facing strong opposition from NGOs spearheaded by Moviment Graffitti and three local councils and over 5,800 objections, Silvio Debono’s DB Group presented new plans reducing the maximum height of their City Centre project from 38 to two 17 storeys and a 12-storey hotel (down from 17). The original permit was revoked by the law courts after a PA board member involved in the real estate business was revealed to have a conflict of interest when voting for the project. An unprecedented crowdfunding campaign made the court decision possible. In April 2020, the height was reduced to 31 storeys from 38, but this did not defuse the opposition, with the Labour-led Pembroke council reiterating its stance against the development. The developers’ PR blitz claims they have “listened and acted”, with changes that could reflect a changed political climate following the downfall of the Muscat administration. Ironically, images of the monstrosity approved by the PA back in 2018 are now being used to highlight the reduced visual impact of the project. But as proposed, the project will still include approximately the same number of apartments and an increased built-up footprint with the addition of a second tower. Moreover, other high-rise projects like Mercury House and the 14 East developments saw additions in height or scale in successive permits. The project now depends on the approval of a new tunnel passing under a Natura 2000 site along Triq il-Mediterran in Pembroke. In the absence of this government-built tunnel, the project would result in a major traffic bottleneck.

The designs proposed by the developers have created the false impression of a lush green area in front of the Naxxar counting hall that does not exist and is currently a dust-gravel football ground

Naxxar high-rise: Waiting for new plans

Again reflecting the changed landscape post-Muscat, in November 2020 the PA board asked the proponents of a 10-storey block in Naxxar for new plans. The project’s ‘frontman’ Jean Borg warned residents he could “build the whole area… like a government housing estate” if he does not get the tower block approved. The project is one of three on the former Trade Fair grounds. PA board chairman Vince Cassar – who previously criticised the suitability of high-rise in this area – asked the Naxxar developers whether they were willing to change plans in view of widespread opposition. A social impact assessment shows 74% of Naxxar is against the 113-residential unit block, which will have a 253-space underground garage, together with supermarket, restaurants, offices, day-care centre and gymnasium. Despite the widespread opposition, the PA’s executive chairman Martin Saliba defended the project as the result of months of discussions with the developers, and warned the area will face the same traffic impact with a conventional development that lacks open spaces. “We are going towards something innovative, rather than the usual mediocrity,” Saliba said, describing the project as balanced. Both the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage and the PA’s own cultural heritage advisory committee warned of the massive visual impact on the urban skylines of Mosta and Naxxar when viewed from various viewpoints, such as Mdina.

In March the developers scaled down the 40-storey hotel to 31, after the revocation of Townsquare’s original 38-storey application in 2017 forcing its downscale to 28 storeys

Fort Cambridge: To schedule or to demolish

On the backburner is a high-rise hotel proposed by the GAP group on the Fort Cambridge barracks in Tigné. In March the developers scaled down the 40-storey hotel to 31, after the revocation of Townsquare’s original 38-storey application in 2017 forcing its downscale to 28 storeys. But the policy permitting high-rise hotels specifically bans such developments on scheduled historical buildings. If the barracks are scheduled – as the Sliema local council is requesting – then the PA will have to assess the impact on the setting of the building. The building was recommended for Grade 2 scheduling in EIA studies, a status which normally precludes substantial changes. Photomontages for the new development suggest that most of the original barracks will be demolished with only parts of the façade being retained.

A high-rise in Xghajra?

In December 2020, developers presented plans for three gigantic blocks rising to 15 storeys on farmland just outside Smart City, overlooking the sea on one side and Wied Glavan on the other, with 14 retail shops, 153 apartments and nine penthouses. Jason Mifsud, a shareholder in the Fanu Mifsud Company of Mqabba, as well as Univest Enterprises and Four Site Operations, presented the application. The site consists of 5,466sq.m of farmland. It was a deceptive zoning application approved in August 2018, which cleared the way by applying the Floor Area Ratio mechanism, which allows a 17.5m height to be spread over additional floors in return for the allocation of open piazzas. Residents were unaware that the zoning application had anything to do with high-rise developments, as it simply referred to the removal of a schemed 3m front garden and changes to the road and building alignment.

Flyover at Mriehel: a step too far

Despite its impact on agricultural land, road-building has been more politically palatable than construction projects, mostly due to the presumed benefits for motorists. But Infrastructure Malta may have crossed a line by proposing a flyover on farmland in Qormi, especially after the intervention of former Labour leader Alfred Sant and former President Marie Louis Coleiro, which gave legitimacy to a campaign which saw local farmers team up with Moviment Graffitti, once again proving the NGO’s worth as a coalition builder. Plans shown to farmers indicate that the new flyover will take 20 tumoli of arable land from farmers and destroy one of Qormi’s last “green lungs”.

Manoel Island

Manoel Island: never-ending saga

The Manoel Island project had hit a major snag in 2020 after the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) revoked the project’s permit and ordered developers MIDI to prepare a new EIA, a process which is expected to be concluded during 2021. The permit was revoked after the EPRT accepted a plea of conflict of interest due to the involvement of the son of one of the project’s shareholders in drafting the EIA. Amendments to the original 1999 permit, which included more open space areas and 610 apartments at Manoel Island, were approved in 2019 by the PA after 8,000sq.m of floor space were transferred to MIDI’s Tigné project. The 1999 permit remains enshrined in the local plan approved in 2006.

The AUM and Palumbo appeals

2021 will see the PA’s appeals tribunal (EPRT) taking a final decision on the American University of Malta’s proposed campus extension, which was turned down by the PA in November 2019. The project, along with the transfer of public land at Zonqor to Jordanian construction company Sadeen, is another legacy of the Muscat government. The proposal has been opposed by a group of Cottonera residents on grounds that it would destroy the few remaining public open spaces in the area and ruin a historic skyline without contributing anything to the community in the surrounding area. Another crucial appeal is that presented by Palumbo against a PA enforcement against the dumping of toxic waste in an area levelled by concrete following the yard’s privatisation. It may have legal consequences stemming from obligations stipulated in the agreement between the government and Palumbo. The last sitting dates back to January 2020 and so far no date has been set for the hearing which was nearing its conclusion following testimonies by the ERA, PA and Palumbo officials during the past four years.