Naxxar high-rise withdrawn, but new plans are in the offing

Plans for an imposing 10-storey block in the car park of the former Naxxar trade fair grounds have been scrapped, after the developers withdrew the application.

The decision comes five months after a Planning Authority board meeting during which chairman Vince Cassar – who previously criticised the suitability of high-rise in the area – asked the developers whether they were willing to change plans in view of widespread opposition.

Now the developers have submitted another application, the details of which are yet not available on the Planning Authority’s public information system.

The reason given as to why details of the new proposal are still under wraps is that the application has not been “fully submitted”.

MaltaToday is informed that the new application does not foresee the use of the Floor Area Ratio mechanism, which allows higher buildings double the height limited by the local plan if half the area is allocated for open spaces.

During the November 2020 meeting, developer Jean Borg had warned that his group would either get a Tigné-style project, or face having to “build the whole area... with a horrid building looking like a government housing estate”.

Borg fronts SPTT Properties Limited, a company that includes Dutch business group Wygron Beheer, hotelier Ian Decesare’s Sonnet Inv, Ab Initio Limited, JND properties, L.A. Developments, J&J Holdings, IN Space, as well as other independent property owners and also legal consultants.

Project architect Christian Spiteri said Borg could have opted for a “conventional” sprawl of 30 low-rise blocks with limited public open space; and that high-rise was the only way to retain more open space. He also claimed the project was ‘inspired’ by artist Esprit Barthet’s depiction of the Maltese skyline.

The 10-storey block would lie just 70m away from the Grade 1 schedule Palazzo Parisio and the Naxxar urban conservation area. “How can we approve a monstrosity next to the UCA?” Naxxar mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami had asked, warning of the project’s visibility from the recently-restored historical windmill of Naxxar.

A social impact assessment has shown 74% of Naxxar is against the 113-residential unit block, which was to include a 253-space underground garage, together with supermarket, restaurants, offices, day-care centre and gymnasium.

Despite the widespread opposition, including that of PA board members, the project was defended by the PA’s executive chairman Martin Saliba. Saliba said the project was the result of “months of discussions” between the PA and 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, defending the project as being “balanced”.

Naxxar is not identified as a high-rise site, and ‘medium rise’ developments of up to 10 storeys are allowed on sites of over 4,000sq.m surrounded by existing or proposed streets. No such development is allowed inside UCAs, or high-lying areas like Naxxar which is 126m above sea level.

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.

“The impact is such as to challenge the scenic significance of the parish churches of Mosta and Naxxar... the massive volume as proposed will also dwarf the historical chapel of St. Jacob the Apostle and will divorce it totally from the context, obliterating its legibility,” the Superintendence said.