Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1443936
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 JANUARY 2022 EUROPE ERA go-ahead for Marsaxlokk council offices Refusal recomended for nine-storey Birzebbugia hotel JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resourc- es Authority is not objecting to the development of local council offices in the Marsaxlokk school garden, as long as additional trees are planted to compensate for those which will be lost. Nearly 300 residents have al- ready objected to the proposed development. The Marsaxlokk local council wants to build a community cen- tre on 920sq.m of garden space in the locality's primary school, that will impact a number of trees. The planning applica- tion foresees the "transplanting" of 37 olive trees, cypress trees, pomegranate trees, Judas trees and pecan nut trees. The community centre will have three storeys, to house the local council, a social security office, a post office, a library and a public hall. A receded top sto- rey will host a roof garden with benches. The council approved the project with three votes to two, the latter being that of PN councillor Janice Chetcuti and deputy mayor Elenia Desira. Hundreds of residents turned out for a protest against the de- velopment in December. In its submission to the Plan- ning Authority, the ERA ac- knowledged the concerns with on the uptake of part of an urban open space, but said the devel- opment was intended as a com- munity facility inside a commit- ted development zone. For this reason the ERA did not object to the proposal. But while noting that the uprooting of trees impacted by the develop- ment does not require a nature permit, as these are not protect- ed, it is still requesting that addi- tional trees are planted on site or within the surrounding areas as a compensatory measure. ERA gives go-ahead for Marsaxlokk council offices earmarked inside school garden JAMES DEBONO THE Planning Authority's case officer is calling on the PA's planning commission to refuse the addition of two storeys to a seven-storey hotel approved in 2020, requested by the tuna farming magnate Charles Azzopardi. A final decision on the development is expected on 11 February. The seven-storey hotel will replace the existign four-storey Sea Breeze Ho- tel, approved in October 2020 despite objections by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage and a negative rec- ommendation by the case officer. Subsequently, Azzopardi applied for an additional two storeys, as foreseen in a policy approved in 2014 that al- lows hotels an extra two floors over and above what is allowed by local plans. But the case officer is once again rec- ommending refusal, arguing that the development is still in breach of policy. This is because the Height Limitation Adjustment Policy For Hotels only al- lows the additional two storeys provied that "the resultant design features a high quality product in keeping with the urban context and no blank walls are created". In this case, the exposed blank party walls on Triq il-Bajja s-Sabiħa, which is being objected to by the Superintend- ence of Cultural Heritage, will have a negative visual impact on the streets- cape and urban context. The proposed height, massing and blank party walls are also in breach of the Strategic Plan (SPED) policies, which aim to ensure that all new de- velopments improve amenity and the pleasantness of place. Birzebbugia's local council, represent- ed by architect and Green Party leader Carmel Cacopardo, had objected to the latest application alongside the SCH and nearly 650 objectors. In 2020 the Superintendence ex- pressed its concern on the increase in the hotel's height, due to its prominent location next to the urban conservation area. It said the hotel would visually dominate and condition the surround- ing streetscape around Pretty Bay. Even the PA's case officer recom- mended refusal due to the creation of an unsightly blank party wall. But fol- lowing changes to the façade, in plans endorsed by the PA's internal design panel, the PA's planning commission approved the seven-storey hotel. A photomontage of the development shows the hotel dominating the bay along with the eight-storey high Wa- ter's Edge hotel, owned by Charles Poli- dano, which was approved in 2007. In 2017 the PA refused an application by Polidano for an additional storey on his hotel. Photomontage showing the proposed development