Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1378870
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 MAY 2021 NEWS Marsa six- storey block over 19th century building and farmland JAMES DEBONO A six-storey high office devel- opment is being proposed on farmland in Marsa across the old matchbox factory, right next to the plot earmarked for a 16-sto- rey high-rise, while another of- fice block could replace a historic building on the waterfront. An imposing late-19th centu- ry building close to the Marsa waterfront and inside the his- torical industrial zone, is being identified for the development of a five-storey office block, by Church Wharf Properties Limit- ed. Previous plans for a 17-storey tower on the same site have been withdrawn. But the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage is strongly objecting to the demolition of the facade of the "historic port building", drawing attention to its formality and "architectural rhythm", which it wants safe- guarded and retained. The SCH has not shot down any development on this site but is insisting that any development on this site "should preserve and integrate this significant build- ing". In the six-storey block applica- tion, Hompesch Station Ltd has earmarked a 1,115sq.m farm- land plot adjacent to the former matchbox factory, which will also include two levels of under- ground parking, a ground-floor showroom and five floors of of- fices. The site is already designated as an 'Opportunity Area' in the local plan, where the Planning Authority had to set parameters for development. A previous application was turned down in 2011 as it was considered to prejudice the ho- listic development of the area. This exercise was finalised in a plan published in December 2018 which zoned a 100,850sq.m zone in Marsa as a 'business hub'. The policy limits building heights in all five areas to 22m – five storeys – but states that the floor-area ratio can be applied in line with the 2014 heights poli- cy, which had already identified an undefined part of Marsa for high-rise development. A 16-sto- rey office development is also be- ing proposed on a nearby site by the developer Neville Agius. In its first reaction to the 16-storey high-rise, the Super- intendence for Cultural Heritage has drawn attention to the his- torical buildings located in the vicinity of the site, particularly to the former match factory located across the road and reminding developers the design of the new building, should not to be preju- dicial "to significant architecture in the vicinity". In 2018 the Corinthia Group presented an application on the site of the former matchbox fac- tory. Earlier proposals to knock down the historic building to make way for a five-storey mul- tipurpose centre, set to include both offices and shops were dropped following objections by the Superintendence. Another application, details of which are not yet available to the public has been subsequently present- ed. Marsa Opportunity Area Developer Description Church Wharf Properties Five-storey office block opposite matchbox factory Hompesch Station Ltd Six-storey office block adjacent to matchbox factory Neville Agius 16-storey office high-rise Top: the site of the five-storey office block at the Marsa roundabout near the Aldo Moro Road; left: the site of the six-storey office block, near the disused power station in Marsa M'skala valley relocation for Fort Saint Leonard cow farm JAMES DEBONO THE owner of a cow farm pres- ently located within Fort Saint Leonard wants to relocate it to a scenic Natura 2000 site con- sisting of terraced agricultural land, on the valley side of Wied il-Għajn in Marsaskala. The farm will consist of a massive building over an area of 1,600sq.m and rise six metres above road level. Low rubble walls and the pres- ence of the historical St Nich- olas country chapel mark the rural context of the area. Both the Environment and Re- sources Authority and the Su- perintendence for Cultural Her- itage expressed their concern at the proposed development, which includes large structures on an industrial scale. The Superintendence advised against such "undesirable in- tensification of development which would inevitably have unsightly impact on the exist- ing rural landscape". On its part, the ERA acknowl- edged that cow farms have to be relocated outside urban areas due to incompatibility with res- idential areas, but insisted that existing farm buildings should be used for this purpose in or- der to decrease environmental and visual impacts. In this re- spect, the site in question and its surrounding context is con- sidered unsuitable for the relo- cation. Attempts to relocate the farm from the fort have so far proved elusive, with the first attempt to relocate the farm and 11 oth- ers to Siggiewi in the vicinity of the Dar tal-Providenza, being turned down. An appeal on this application is still pending. Fort Leonardo, where the farm is presently located, was built between 1872 and 1878 by the British military establishment, as part of improvements to Malta's fortifications, rendered necessary by the introduction of iron-plated ships and more powerful rifled guns. The fort remained in use by the British military until the 1970s but was rented to a cat- tle farmer in 1973 for an annual sum of €93. In 2016 the fort was mentioned as a possible alterna- tive to Żonqor as the site for the American University of Malta campus, but subsequently Dock No 1 in Bormla was chosen to compliment a reduced site in Żonqor. The farm will consist of a massive building over an area of 1,600sq.m and rise six metres above road level