Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1321294
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 DECEMBER 2020 NEWS PA: Naxxar block 'positive transition' for unapproved nine-storey tower JAMES DEBONO A brutish five-storey develop- ment of 72 apartments in an open field by Naxxar's Pjazza Celsi, right by the former trade fair grounds, is being treated as a "positive development" by the Planning Authority's case of- ficers. The development is being considered as a "positive devel- opment of the urban fabric" in a report endorsed by the PA's planning directorate, claiming the apartment complex will be "an adequate transition" be- tween Naxxar's urban conserva- tion area (UCA), and an as-yet unapproved nine-storey devel- opment adjacent to it which is stoking controversy. The proposed development is located 150m away from the historic Palazzo Parisio. Mistakenly, the case officer's report written in October 2020, right before a PA meeting in November to postpone a deci- sion on the 9-storey develop- ment, claims this development has already been approved. So the case officer is using it as a pretext for the development in Pjazza Celsi, which is now being recommended for approval. In November, the board post- poned a decision on the 9-sto- rey development after board chairman Vince Cassar ex- pressed concern at its visual im- pact. There is popular outrage at the development. The PA board will now be tak- ing a final decision on the devel- opment proposed by developer Charles Camilleri in Pjazza Cel- si on 21 January. No date has been yet announced for the ap- proval of the nine-storey devel- opment proposed by Jean Borg in the trade fair car park. It was the PA's planning com- mission which passed the buck onto the higher PA board in November, due to the "scale of the project" proposed by Camilleri and its vicinity to the 9-storey development, on which the board still has to take a decision. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage is objecting to Camilleri's development as pro- posed, claiming that it will have a negative impact on the UCA and has recommended a de- crease in its volume to minimise the impact on the vernacular buildings in the narrow streets of the UCA. But while confirming that the project will have a visual impact on the UCA, the case officer in- sists that this is "mitigated" by "the potential future develop- ment of the buildings within the area". The case officer also claimed the proposed facades are con- sidered to blend with the "the existing streetscape within which the site is located." The PA case officer claims the 5-storey complex will be a 'transition' between Naxxar historic centre and unapproved 9-storey tower HEARTFELT WISHES FOR A