Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1199625
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2020 NEWS 1. Will DB get its tower? A permit for a 38-sto- rey apartment tower and a 17-storey hotel issued in 2018 was revoked by the law courts due to a conflict of interest in- volving realtor Matthew Pace, whose vote on the PA board was vitiated by his financial interest in the project. Following the revocation, the DB group resorted to the old trick of splitting the ap- plication in two, a new ap- plication for the demolition and excavation of the ITS site, while pressing on with the original high-rise application. The Local Councils Asso- ciation, presided by Labour councillor Mario Fava, de- scribed the application to ex- cavate the site before a full permit is issued, as a "tactic by the developer to create a com- mitment on the site so one de- cision leads to the next". The application represents a major test for the PA, which is bound to reflect on the new Prime Minister's environmen- tal credentials. The project was the result of the transfer of public land through a deal signed by former Minister Konrad Mizzi and was first approved in a controversial board meeting in which for- mer Executive Chairman Jo- hann Buttigieg used public funds to pay for a private jet to ensure the participation of a board member. The approval bred resent- ment in the Labour-leaning locality of Pembroke com- munity whose housing estates will be overshadowed by the new development. 2. The roads to the Paceville towers A 1.5 km Pembroke tunnel was first proposed in the ap- plication for the DB devel- opment, which along other developments in the area is expected to generate 7,000 new car trips. This has now been integrat- ed in an application presented by Transport Malta which proposes two other tunnels for northbound traffic – a 500-metre link from Regional Road to the Pembroke en- trance junction further up the road at Għar Ħarq Ħamiem valley, and a shorter tunnel from Regional Road to Triq Santu Wistin in the heart of Paceville. A fourth 115-metre tunnel is also being proposed from Church Street near Millen- nium Chapel to St George's Road next to Palazzo Spinola. According to Infrastructure Malta the project is aimed to reduce traffic in several resi- dential roads in Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian's "whilst developing the necessary in- frastructure to meet the area's future transportation require- ments". The Superintend- ence for Cultural Heritage has warned about potential negative impacts to military and historic buildings in the area, as well as threats to the structural integrity of the sub- terranean cave of Għar Ħarq Ħamiem, which is of ecologi- cal importance. 3. Setting the price for Corinthia's apartment blocks A proposed deal brokered by former tourism minister Kon- rad Mizzi has been on hold since April. The deal present- ed a year ago foresaw the ad- ditional development of up to 100,000sq.m of luxury apart- ments and offices on the site of the Corinthia and Radisson hotels, against the payment of €17 million for the changes requested to the original deed signed in the 1990s when de- velopment in the area was restricted to tourism accom- modation. A draft masterplan seen by MaltaToday included a total of twelve blocks ranging from eight to 21 floors. Amidst crit- icism by both environmental- ists and the Malta Developers Association, the government engaged a new international firm to make a fresh valuation of the St George's Bay penin- sula in St Julian's, currently occupied by three Corinthia hotels. But the new valuation was never announced and the deal has yet to be ratified by parlia- ment. The project will also re- quire changes to the local plan for Paceville, which earmarks the peninsula solely for tour- ism purposes. 4. More apartments on Jerma site? In 2019 the government asked the PA to prepare a de- velopment brief for the Jerma site in Marsaskala. The guide- lines issued for public are sug- gesting that a maximum of 40,000sq.m should be allocat- ed to residential development. The Marsaskala local council has consistently called for de- velopment to be restricted to tourism accommodation. The PA is currently considering an application proposing a high-rise development con- sisting of 166 apartments and a 250-room hotel. The development state- ment was presented on be- half of Porto Notos Ltd, a company owned by developer Charles Camilleri, known as il-Franċiż, and Pierre Lofaro. In July, MaltaToday had re- ported that a group of inves- tors fronted by Gozitan entre- preneur Joseph Portelli was in the process of buying the Jerma hotel site for a reported €90 million. 5. The PN's curse: zoning development at Nigret, Mosta and Swatar The massive extension of building boundaries by the Gonzi administration in 2006 is still disturbing the peace of local communities, faced with applications to set the param- eters for development on a number of large open spaces. For 13 years after the bound- ary extension, developers are still presenting applications to set the density of development proposed in these areas. Zon- ing applications to be decided in the next months include 10 major planning tests for the Planning Authority under a new PM Will the advent of a new Labour government next year see the balance tilt from Muscat's pro-business approach to one putting local communities first? A number of pending planning decisions will test whether it will be business at usual at the Planning Authority, whose board members are mostly government appointees A proposed deal for the Corinthia development brokered by former tourism minister Konrad Mizzi has been on hold since April