Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1383989
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 JUNE 2021 NEWS PA set to approve 71 apartments in Naxxar's Pjazza Celsi JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority's De- velopment Management Di- rectorate is recommending the approval of 71 residential units spread over five floors in a pres- ently open space known as Pjaz- za Celsi in Naxxar just 150 me- ters away from Palazzo Parisio. The plans for the construction of 72 apartments were present- ed after the PA board, in Janu- ary this year, sent the proposed five-storey plans back to the drawing board, even though the case officer who had re- viewed the development had recommended approval. Originally the case officer had considered the plans as "a positive development of the ur- ban fabric", claiming the apart- ment complex would be "an adequate transition" between Naxxar's urban conservation area (UCA), and an as-yet un- approved nine-storey develop- ment adjacent to it, which is still stoking controversy. In the latest report, the case officer says that the develop- ment is being "positively con- sidered" because the "revised design will contribute even more than the previous one to a positive development of the urban fabric together with an adequate transition with the Urban Conservation Area addressing the concerns that were previously raised by the Board". A final decision on the con- troversial development pro- posed by developer Charles Camilleri will be taken by the Planning Board on 22 July. The most significant change in the latest plans is the im- proved transition between an existing old farmhouse, and one of the blank party walls created by the building. No changes have been made to the height of the new building. The new plans include more planters, a different colour scheme and a redesign of the balconies and apertures. But there is little change in the overall impact of the project on Naxxar's townscape. In January the PA board had asked for changes to the plans after expressing concerns on the massing and design of the building particularly in the ar- ea between the UCA and the area within scheme as seen from Pjazza Celsi. Moreover the Board asked for the inclu- sion of more traditional ele- ments within the UCA part and more greenery within the overall proposal. The case officer's report notes that the inclusion of more planters in the latest propos- al "not only contributes to the residential amenity of each unit but provides also visual in- terest within the surrounding context". It also notes that the façade in the UCA overlooking Pjazza Celsi will be developed to the height of two floors and has been treated with tradition- al franka stone and horizontal lines "that act as subtle shadow gaps in order to brake the main volume providing a visual ar- ticulation on different planes". The area where the develop- ment is being proposed is de- scribed as one "by large areas of undeveloped land" and by a "lack of definition and articu- lation of the private and public open space" that may – if not planned well – lead to an urban sprawl without due considera- tion to the traditional core of Naxxar. It was a zoning application approved in 2017 which first established a building height of 17.5m in this area of Naxx- ar, paving the way for this and other similar developments in the vicinity. The Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage and the PA's Design Advisory Committee objected to Camill- eri's development as proposed, claiming that it would have a negative impact on the UCA. They recommended a de- crease in volume to minimise the impact on the vernacular buildings in the narrow streets of the UCA. Previous plans for 72 apartments had been sent back to the drawing board after the Planning Board had asked for a better design and more greenery in the project set a few meters away from the town centre