Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472276
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JULY 2022 JAMES DEBONO THREE new "mixed use" blocks, ranging between five and six floors are being proposed on a 3,870sq.m area that envelopes the historical Australia Hall. In planning jargon, mixed- use developments normal- ly include a combination of residential, office and retail development. A zoning application pre- sented by the Fino Group in 2018 had been removed from the public informa- tion system in 2019 when the application was deemed to be incomplete; the latest plans from January 2022 were pub- lished earlier this week. The application no longer makes any reference to the application of the 'high-rise' Floor Area Ratio mechanism as originally proposed, which would have allowed a high-rise development in the area. The latest plans foresee devel- opment over some 12,000sq.m in total floor area, which in- cludes the three massive blocks and the restoration of Australia Hall itself. Some 2,400sq.m of the total 6,331sq.m site will be retained as open public space. The development is being proposed by AH Develop- ments, which is owned by the Fino Group. How local plan limits develop- ment in the area The local plan approved in 2006 makes no reference to development around Australia Hall and only permits the "re- use" of the historical building as a "public meeting hall, for commercial use, exhibition space or other suitable cultural or recreational use", including shops, offices, food and drink establishment or educational facilities. The local plan also specifies that any development must re- spect the "architectural integ- rity of the site" and "any views from and onto the scheduled buildings." The policy map setting height limitations in different areas of Pembroke does not foresee any development around Aus- tralia Hall and fails to set any height limitation in the area where the development is be- ing proposed. Another map designating the zoning of dif- ferent areas in Pembroke limits development on this site to us- es outlined in policy regulating the re-use of historical build- ings. This excludes residential development. Australia Hall is currently listed as a Grade 2 scheduled building, which precludes demolition but permits inter- nal alterations. In this case the development will inevitably impact on the setting of the scheduled building. A policy introduced by the PA in 2020 specifies that the PA is duty-bound to "safeguard the context and setting of sites that carry heritage val- ue". When assessing applica- tions, planners have to conduct detailed assessments of how a proposed development would impact on protected buildings and identify mitigation meas- ures with the support and ap- proval of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. Pembroke under siege The development is being proposed just 60m away from the approved Chinese embas- sy complex, which will also include 20 residential apart- ments. Two of the embassy blocks will rise to six floors. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage has warned that the development "is evidently one of very high intensity and visibility" which will have an "inevitable impact on the spa- tial and visual context of the surrounding scheduled build- ings". Pembroke will also see the development of two 17-storey towers on the site of the former Institute of Tourism Studies. A major road tunnel project passing through a Natura 2000 site will also link Pembroke to the DB project, on the site of the former ITS, and this will also involve a new road passing from undeveloped land link- ing Triq Sant Andrija and Triq Suffulk with the tunnel. The Australia Hall saga Back in 2005 Fino had applied to turn Australia Hall into a su- permarket but the application was withdrawn by the Planning Authority's planning directo- rate. In 2014, the new Labour administration used its power to stop a court action institut- ed by the Lands Department under the former Nationalist government, to take back the Pembroke land accorded to the party back in the 1970s as compensation for the expro- priation of the party's land in Marsa, for the Malta Ship- building Corporation, by the same Labour government of the time. The PN protested the La- bour administration's deci- sion in 2014 to stop the court action, accusing it of using its overweening power for its par- ty's financial gain. In July 2014, Labour sold Australia Hall to A.H. De- velopment for just €582,343, with the final price taking into consideration unspecified out- standing debts with the buyers. But the Labour Party was subsequently accused by the Inland Revenue Department of undervaluing the land and property by millions. The Commissioner for Tax first insisted that Australia Hall land was worth nothing less than €5.5 million, and then re- vised the value downwards to €2,025,000. The party is oppos- ing the tax assessment in court, after it was told to pay an addi- tional €14,426 in capital gains tax over and above the €23,296 first incurred on the original selling price. Three commercial blocks proposed next to Australia hall Local plan permits re-use of Australia Hall for a variety of public, cultural and recreational uses but does not foresee development in its immediate vicinity The latest plans foresee development over some 12,000sq.m in total floor area, which includes the three massive blocks and the restoration of Australia Hall itself. Some 2,400sq.m of the total 6,331sq.m site will be retained as open public space. The development is being proposed by AH Developments, which is owned by the Fino Group.