Pedestrian road proposed in Portelli’s Dolphin Complex site

A pedestrian road cutting across the site of the former Dolphin supermarket in Balzan is being proposed to accommodate a controversial residential development by CF Homes Limited.

The company is partly owned by construction magnate Joseph Portelli.

The Planning Authority had originally approved a five-storey development consisting of 88 new apartments known as Park Lane, which covered most of the site.

But the permit was later revoked by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal with the decision confirmed by the law courts.

The zoning application presented by CF Developers is aimed at reconfiguring the building alignment, possibly before a new planning application is presented by the developers.

As proposed the pedestrian road which will have two openings, one on Triq il-Kbira near the mature fig trees and one on Triq Wied Hal Balzan, will divide the site in two building plots fronting the new passageway.

Internal roads are often proposed to reconfigure building alignments on sites which have a considerable depth like this one.

The Balzan council has already submitted an objection to the plans warning that a blank party wall will be created due to the proposed road and that this will have a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

The latest zoning application comes in the wake of a revocation of a permit issued by the Planning Authority in 2022 through which the CF Developers were given the green light to develop retail outlets, and four overlying floors of 88 apartments including penthouses with rooftop pools.

But in 2023, the permit was revoked by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, a decision later confirmed by the Court of Appeal.

In its decision the EPRT limited the number of floors to three full floors and one receded floor, instead of four and one receded floor. The project was sent back to the PA which was asked to reassess the project through a new case officer report that had to consider the mature trees and heritage features left out of the developers’ application.

The decision was confirmed by the Court of Appeal presided by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti which concluded that the EPRT was acting fully within its remit when it adopted a “more restrictive interpretation” of the building height.

The main  bone of contention related to the  conversion from floor levels approved in the Local Plans to the height measured in metres under the controversial 2015 document Development Control Design Policy, Guidance and Standards (DC15).

In this case the height in metres of the development effectively fell between three and four floors.

In an announcement posted to the Malta Stock Exchange following the judgment, CF Estates said that its subsidiary “took cognizance of and is reviewing the judgment of the Court of Appeal” and will be “considering a project which fits the criteria and parameters established or referred to in these judgments.”

CF Developer Ltd which is proposing the residential project is a subsidiary of CF Estates, a company which includes major developer Joseph Portelli as the largest shareholder, owning 30 per cent of the company.

The development was originally billed as “the first luxury residential development in the central region of Malta” and “a new landmark in the neighbourhood”. Promotional material on Joseph Portelli’s website describes “eye-catching arched walkways” in an “elegant nine-block condominium building [that] is designed to blend seamlessly into the paved streets of Balzan with its natural limestone façade, wrought-iron detailing and traditional Maltese balconies, reminiscent of a bygone era.”

The PA has also approved another 11 apartments belonging to the same company on an adjacent site previously occupied by a townhouse whose façade is being retained.