'Welcome to St George’s Bay' sign removed from proposed Eden bridge

THE Planning Authority is set to approve a pedestrian bridge linking two hotels proposed by the Eden Leisure Group above the road leading to St George’s Bay.

But a case officer report recommending approval of the project notes that “a sign within the glass railing” indicated in artistic impressions of the project was removed on the insistence of of the Development Management Directorate. The sign included the inscription ‘Welcome to St George’s Bay’.

Moreover, one of the conditions imposed on the development is that the bridge is “left free of any form of advertisement or sign”.

The case officer does not give a reason why the sign was found objectionable, but MaltaToday is informed that the main reason is that the naming of locations falls under the remit of public authorities.

Over the past decades the Decesare family, owners of the Eden Leisure Group, had insisted on branding the destination as St George’s Bay, as opposed to Paceville, the name of the entertainment area located right behind its premises.

The case officer report notes that the proposed bridge has been designed to change its profile depending on the angle of vision of the observer and thus “will provide an interesting element within the skyline”.

As proposed the bridge will have a width of 2.4m to allow the passageway of people moving in different directions of flow over a reinforced concrete slab and two 1.5-metre-high side railings. The materials used in the construction include a steel structure painted in pastel yellow to sustain the pedestrian bridge while the stairs and platform will be build using reinforced concrete with exposed aggregate finish and glass railings with led light strips.

The contemporary materials are considered to blend well with the surrounding context.

The bridge will connect the pool level of Intercontinental Hotel on the tenth floor to and level 4 and level 6 of the approved Voco Hotel.

A final decision will be taken by the Planning Commission on 24 July.