Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1363999
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 APRIL 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO IN another blow to Burmarrad's rural char- acter a modern five-storey high office block with a drive-in restaurant on its ground floor is being proposed on formerly agricul- tural land belonging to the Easysell group, a short distance away from the Queen's pet- rol station approved on ODZ land in 2017 and opposite the Kiabi discount store. Applicant Emmanuel Fenech, one of the owners of the Easysell group, is proposing the excavation two floors beneath street level to accommodate a car park, a drive in restaurant on the ground floor and first floor, two overlaying floors of offices and a receded floor. As proposed the develop- ment will result in the demolition of rubble walls and the uprooting of trees including protected pine trees. The proposal falls within an area where in June 2020 the Planning Authority relaxed building heights to permit 17.5m high de- velopment as recommended by the govern- ment in 2018. The changes to the local plan allowed offices, retail shops and catering establish- ment in an area previously identified for "vehicle repairs and maintenance, storage, and showrooms" and where development was limited to one storey. The local plan approved in 2006 had al- ready permitted limited development on the site through its zoning as "an area of containment" - a designation for sites out- side the development zone (ODZ) which was meant to create a transition between the rural and urban areas to accommodate low key commercial developments like showrooms. Easysell Ltd had previously applied for a petrol station on the same site. But the ap- plication was aborted after the PA approved a petrol station on a nearby plot of land owned by another company, Construction and Turnkey Ltd, which was eventually is- sued a permit for a 3,000sq.m petrol station on ODZ land outside the area of contain- ment. Over the years the PA has refused three applications to construct a boundary wall around the site owned by Easysell now identified for the construction of the drive- in and office development. An application by Easysell's Anthony Fenech to develop a car wash and enclose it with a wall, was first refused in 1995, a decision confirmed on appeal by 2000 be- cause the site had been excavated without the necessary permission, and the excavat- ed material was left lying on site, conse- quently also being used for illegal dumping as well. Similar applications were refused in 1999 and 2002, and an enforcement against the illegal construction of a wall has been pend- ing since 1997. Easysell wants drive in and five- storey office block in Burmarrad Development proposed on land where the Planning Authority was asked by the government to change planning goalposts to accommodate a 17.5 metre high office and retail development in an area where development was previously limited to one storey development JAMES DEBONO THE Birżebbuġa local council is objecting to an additional two floors on the Sea Breeze Hotel over and above the seven storeys approved a year ago. In the meantime more than 500 objections have been presented against the proposed develop- ment. The council warned that apart from the visual impact, the pro- posed development would neg- atively impact on photovoltaic panels on neighbouring rooftops. The council also claimed that the development would further ex- acerbate traffic problems in the area. Moviment Graffitti, which is also objecting to the project, warned that, if accepted, the application would create a prec- edent for more high-rise devel- opment, which would ruin the character of the seaside village of Birzebbugia. The existing four-storey Sea Breeze guesthouse owned by property and fishing magnate Charles Azzopardi applied for the addition of two storeys to its seven-storey permit just nine months after obtaining a permit for a seven-storey hotel over- looking Pretty Bay. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage had originally expressed its concern on the increase in the hotel's height, due to its prominent location immediately next to the locali- ty's urban conservation area. It said that the hotel would visual- ly dominate and condition the surrounding streetscape around Pretty Bay. Even the Planning Authority's case officer recommended a re- fusal due to the creation of an unsightly blank party wall. Although the maximum height in the area is limited to five floors (17.5m), an additional two floors were approved under a policy al- lowing hotels two extra storeys over and above height limits. As approved in 2020, the new hotel will see an increase from the cur- rent 32 rooms to 86. Following changes to the façade in new plans endorsed by the PA's internal design panel, the seven-storey hotel was approved by the PA's planning commis- sion. Birzebbuga council objects to nine-storey hotel A photomontage of the development shows the hotel dominating the bay along with the eight-storey high Water's Edge hotel owned by Charles Polidano, which was approved in 2007