Residents and organisations file appeal against ERA approval of DB project’s EIA

The Planning Directorate is recommending the approval of the dB Group’s City Centre project at the former ITS site in Pembroke, despite having received several thousand objections on the project.

The project, once approved, will consist of two 17-storey towers and a 12-storey hotel.

The original permit for a 38-storey tower and a 17-storey hotel was revoked by the law courts after a Planning Authority board member involved in the real estate business was revealed to have a conflict of interest when voting for the project.

Subsequently, new plans were submitted, reducing the height of the tower to 31 storeys. But this was not enough to placate opposition to the project, leading the developers to further downscale the project in plans submitted last December.

The project has faced strong opposition from NGOs spearheaded by Moviment Graffitti, the Pembroke local council, and over 5,800 objections.

Eight organisations and several Pembroke residents have joined forces and have now filed an appeal with the Environmental and Planning Tribunal against the ERA approval of the EIA.

“This massive and intensive project, in a predominantly residential area and adjacent to two Natura 2000 sites, had attracted a record amount of objections - 17,000 objections over four periods - and staunch opposition from all directions, including residents, local councils, business groups, and NGOs.

“We will not stand by and let ERA rubber-stamp a deeply flawed, unsubstantiated and incomplete assessment. ERA continues to consider the excavation of a tunnel which is not included in the application as a mitigating factor, but refuses to consider the negative environmental impacts of the tunnel.

“The assessment is based on untested assumptions and is rife with inconsistencies. Once more ERA has abdicated its responsibilities as an environmental watchdog which safeguards the substantive and procedural rights deriving from both local and EU law. We will challenge this.”

The organisations include Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), Friends of the Earth Malta, Green House, Moviment Graffitti, Rota, The Archaeological Society Malta, and Żminijietna – Voice of the Left.

Even after the recent downscaling, the Labour-led Pembroke Local Council reiterated its objection to the DB project as it fails to address the council’s main concern, being that the project is still out of scale with the nearby residential area.

Reacting to the approval on Facebook, Moviment Graffitti activist Andre Callus expressed his disappointment in the project’s approval despite the thousands of objections received.

A final decision on the project is due to take place by the Planning Authority's board on June 10.