NGO, residents to appeal development of 14-storey hotel at Sliema green area

NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Sliema residents will be appealing a permit allowing the development of a 14-storey hotel in Zimmermann Barbaro Lane.

“This Class 3B hotel with adjacent self-catering suites will have a huge impact on the neighbourhood, cutting off light and air into surrounding houses, overshadowing solar panels and the large garden behind it,” the NGO said on Sunday.

It said the 178-bed accommodation will generate some 1,000 vehicle trips a day for tourists, staff and suppliers, “producing toxic emissions which will be trapped in an urban canyon”, yet no Environment Impact Assessment has been carried out.

Astrid Vella, FAA Coordinator pointed out, the hotel falls within a residential area, where the Local Plan does not allow the development of hotels. “It also violates SPED regulations, as it does not identify, protect and enhance the residential amenity and character of the area. In fact, both the developers and the Planning Authority ignored the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage’s insistence that the traditional old houses on Zimmermann Barbaro Lane be preserved.”

Plans for the 14-storey hotel in Sliema

Zimmermann Barbaro Lane is a dead-end road for vehicles, since Bisazza Street at a lower level, connects via steps, while the lane is too narrow to allow cars to turn or pass abreast, making traffic almost impossible there. “In spite of this, Transport Malta approved this major project.”

To reach the hotel, vehicles will have to approach by circling through Qui is-Sana to St Anthony Street, adding to Sliema’s general traffic congestion and pollution, and turning narrow St Anthony Street into a main road, exacerbating the gridlock at the Ferries. “All this contravenes regulations to safeguard environmental health from air and noise pollution and will contribute to an increase in pollution-related diseases like asthma, hypertension, coronary problems and cancer.”

Residents were infuriated that these points were systematically ignored at the Planning Authority hearing that dismissed all the valid objections. “Why is the Planning Authority approving projects that violating all planning regulations?” one resident asked, to which it was pointed out that the project architect is the Minister of Tourism’s brother. 

“This hotel will destroy almost half of a large green area hidden below the houses in Tigne Street, where, it was revealed, a fresh-water stream runs to this day, hence the name of the adjacent alley ‘Triq Fawwara’. Residents were outraged to learn that while such areas were protected as green enclaves in other towns, Sliema and St Julian’s were systematically deprived of such designations in 2006, in order to allow developers a free hand. They condemned the Authorities’ duplicity in talking of Climate Change measures while destroying the very green areas and water sources that mitigate Climate Change.”

Tigne Street residents pointed to the six other major hotels planned in the area, including the massive Townsquare project, in addition to 110 tourist accommodation permits granted since 2013, saying the situation has become untenable. “Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has been campaigning for Carrying Capacity Studies since 2018 and it has now been revealed that the Planning Authority has carried out such a study, however it has not been released to the public.”

Dr Josie Muscat concluded the meeting by calling on all Sliema residents to come together under the the Sliema Residents Association in order to make their voices heard by the Authorities and take futher steps to assert their right to a healthy environment and quality of life.