Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1410377
9 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2021 JAMES DEBONO THE Planning board will be meeting tomorrow Thursday to determine a downscaled version of MIDI's Ma- noel Island project, with apartments reduced from 499 to 300, and with no development on historical cemeteries found in the area. The application now will increase open spaces within Manoel Island but also take up 450sq.m from the Gzira promenade to make way for a new 42m-diameter roundabout, leading to the new bridge. The case officer is recommending approval, describing the project as an improvement over a permit issued in 2017, which was later revoked by the Environment and Planning Review Tri- bunal over a conflict of interest in the drafting of the environmental impact assessment. Photomontages of the new develop- ment presented in August confirm the considerable impact the project will have on views from the Gzira prome- nade, from the Gzira garden and from a number of streets in Gzira. The new masterplan totally omits any construction and development on the former cemetery sites, taking up signif- icantly less floor area and committing more land to public open spaces. This translates to a total footprint of circa 6% of the island for new buildings rather than the 12.6% as approved in the 2017 masterplan, with the case of- ficer saying this achieves "a better bal- ance between built-up and open spac- es". Residential units will be reduced from 499 units to 300 units, while the com- mercial component will also be de- creased, including the outright removal of all office space; the removal of land reclamation approved in the north- ern perimeter of the island; retention of the yacht yard as is and forfeiting 5,000sq.m handed over to MIDI for the relocation of the yacht yard. Dredging works between the island and the mainland will also be decreased, reducing the removal of landmass from 5,250sq.m to 2,555sq.m, while the re- vised bridge will be high enough to al- low small watercraft to pass under it. The development incorporates the restoration and re-use of part of the existing bridge to become a belvedere point. Flimkien Għall-Ambjent Aħjar is still opposing the development, claiming that the original outline permit for the development issued way back in 1999 has long expired and therefore cannot be amended. Although permits expire after five years, the PA has insisted on the validity of the permit because it was included in local plans approved in 2006. MIDI contends that the outline per- mit should therefore be considered "as an integral part of planning policy and should not be considered to have any time limit". FAA is also objecting to the design of the new bridge which will take up a sizeable chunk of the Gżira promenade and will result in a huge roundabout right in the middle of the Gżira water- front is what it considers an "outrage against the public open spaces". In their reply MIDI acknowledged that the development will lead to a loss of 450sq.m, amounting to 8% of the current area of the Gżira promenade, or 2.5% of the entire Strand prome- nade; but the project will "give back to the public" 175,000sq.m of public open spaces which currently can only be ac- cessed with difficulty. PA board set to approve 300 apartments at Manoel Island Project includes 175,000sq.m of open space on Manoel Island will result in new roundabout at Gzira promenade