[WATCH] AD warns Sliema high-rise will choke residents

AD protest against proposed Sliema high-rise.

Two proposed tower blocks that could become Malta's tallest two buildings will suffocate Sliema's residents, green party Alternattiva Demokratika warned.
"These two projects will lead to a traffic increase of 4,000 cars in what is already a heavily congested area,” AD chairperson Arnold Cassola told a press conference outside the former Townsquare site, on which a 38-storey tower has been proposed. “It is plainly insulting for the project developers to have said that this increased traffic gridlock twill not be of any detriment to the residents.”

A second 40-storey tower has also been proposed on the Fort Cambridge Military Barracks site, a stone's throw away from Townsquare. If the plans are approved, the two towers will dwarf the St Julian's Portomaso tower which stands at 23 floors.

The Fort Cambridge development has been proposed as a hotel-tower, while the Townsquare development has been earmarked as a block of apartments, offices and retail stores.

Cassola added that the projects will lead to air pollution, more health hazards, parking problems, and an uglification of the Sliema seafront and Valletta skyline.;

Sliema councillor and former AD leader Michael Briguglio noted that the local council has already objected to the development to MEPA on grounds established by a MEPA environmental impact assessment.

Briguglio, who has recently spearheaded a 4,000-person strong protest against the proposed development of a private university at Zonqor Point, accused MEPA of behaving like “the government’s poodle”.

“Insultingly to the Sliema local council, we only got to know about this proposed development through the newspapers, rather than through MEPA,” he said. “The local council had to chase MEPA to submit our feedback, whereas a proper regulator would have done the contrary.

“The talk around the town is that Sliema is no longer taghna lkoll  but rather belongs to two developers,” he said, referring to Gap Developments and Mark Gasan who have proposed the Fort Cambridge and Townsquare developments respectively.

AD deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo insisted that the green party is against high-rise all over Malta on the principle that projects of such magnitude degrade the quality of life of residents and that there are already 72,000 unused dwellings peppered across the islands.

“People who live near Townsquare and who have invested in solar water heating and solar energy panels might as well throw their investment away,” Cacopardo said of the tower’s shadowing effect. 

FAA reaction

In a statement, Flimkien Ghal-Ambjent Ahjar said that Chicago-based expert Dr Mir Ali, who was commissioned by MEPA to prepare a report on tall buildings in Malta, had concluded that both commercial and residential high-rises “are not justifiable from a strict economic point of view”.

FAA said the first step in processing applications for tall buildings applications should be investigations into whether the infrastructure of the area can support more building, residents and traffic.

"The Tigne peninsula already suffers gridlock while the repeated power cuts in this very area recently show that the electricity network cannot cope with the present pressure, let alone the increased consumption of two high-rise buildings."

FAA said the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings together with the UNESCO Sustainability Committee had together issued a report questioning the environmental validity of tall buildings as they require more energy to heat and cool the building than traditional structures, and create ‘heat canyons’ in the neighbourhood, causing increased heat, lack of sun and air to the homes in the area.

"FAA is extremely concerned that recent MEPA proposals on environment studies omit Social Impact Studies from the requirements for major projects. Already we have seen traffic impact survey conclusions that are patently biased in favour of the development. Disregarding Social Impact Studies shows that the residents needs are being ignored by this government," Astrid Vella said.

"The proposed Townsquare development will destroy much of the garden of Villa Drago, one of Sliema’s few surviving heritage buildings, which garden is supposed to be protected. FAA calls on a more creative, holistic, long-term approach to Malta’s development which would protect green areas and residents’ rights, while improving other localities in order to lift the pressure off Sliema and St Julian’s where the quality of life is eroding fast."