‘Mistra Village project design unacceptable’ says Din l-Art Helwa

The proposed Mistra Village project lies on a ridge and will have a huge and permanent visual impact on the surrounding area, states conservationists Din l-Art Helwa said.

"No high-rise buildings should be constructed on ridges. The organisation is set firmly against this project in principle and finds its design ordinary, and against the requirements of the Local Plan for the area," Din l-Art Helwa said of the skyscraper project atop the Mistra ridge.

Din l-Art Helwa said that Local Plan NWSP25 specifically requires the MEPA board to ensure that the redevelopment of Mistra Village has "a noteworthy urban and architectural design of the highest calibre" and that it "provides the highest quality in architectural form and details."

"Do the members of the MEPA Board, who will be voting on this project on Thursday, truly consider that this monstrous high-rise scheme can be accepted as 'a noteworthy urban and architectural design of the highest calibre'?" DLH asked. 

MEPA is recommending the granting of a full permit to this project, on the basis of an existing outline permit which Din l-Art Helwa has requested to be revoked due to incomplete and irregular procedures.

While the outline permit considered the general parameters of the project, the design of the project is to be evaluated in the full permit being discussed on Thursday.

Din l-Art Helwa contends that the design of this project is not of the "highest calibre" as it is an exercise in concentrating maximum number of flats within volumes imposed on a site, with no attempt at contextuality, elegance of materials or underlying concept. "The project is merely a sheer exploitation of a site," the organisation said.

"When seen from afar, the project will be obtrusive not solely due to scale but also because of the assertive manner in which the blocks jut out towards the landscape."

When evaluating the proposal at Mistra, the experts at Transport Malta clearly stated in reference to the single lane traffic on the Xemxija to Mellieha route that "the present situation will be significantly exacerbated with any additional load, let alone the load of the magnitude as anticipated by this project."

However a letter of August 2013 sent to MEPA by the CEO of Transport Malta, James Piscopo, disregards these concerns and states that Transport Malta has "no objection" to the project.

"Din l-Art Helwa requests Mr Piscopo to provide a clear justification for this position, which gives a green light to the high traffic impact of this project previously acknowledged by Transport Malta experts," the organisation said.