Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1499757
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 MAY 2023 NEWS Seven-storey block approved next to Simar nature reserve could impact bird sanctuary → direct discretionary portfolio management *Oer is valid for a limited time only. T&Cs apply. and receive a top-up of up to €200* Apply now medirect.com.mt 2557 4400 MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc, company registration number C34125, is licensed to undertake the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371) and investment services under the Investment Services Act (Cap. 370). An investment service that acts in your best interest at all times. JAMES DEBONO A residential block consisting of 19 apart- ments rising to seven floors has been ap- proved just 20m away from the Simar bird sanctuary. The Environment and Resources Au- thority had not objected to the permit but imposed several conditions on the lighting used in the project to prevent light spilling beyond the developed site. The Simar bird sanctuary is managed by BirdLife Malta and the organisation told MaltaToday it will be appealing against the permit insisting that its concerns have not been addressed. In a Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday BirdLife's Head of Conserva- tion Nicolas Barbara noted that the build- ing will be visible from one of the observa- tion hides from which school kids visiting the sanctuary observe migratory birds. He also expressed concern on the impact on the nature reserve both during con- struction works and when the building is inhabited. But the project's architect argued that a similar permit was granted already a few metres away and so the area is committed. The Planning Commission justified ap- proval by stating that the streetscape has already been committed by another per- mit on a nearby site issued in 2019. Com- mission chairperson Stephania Baldacchi- no also noted that ERA had not expressed any reservations except for light pollution. Barbara expressed his disappointment at ERA for limiting its concern to light pol- lution. "ERA have missed out in securing the vi- ability of the reserve in the future and the PA has now sealed the future," Barbara said. He expressed concern on the fact that the whole area in Triq il-Pwales is now being developed in the absence of any consid- eration for the nature reserve, with each approval triggering the approval of the neighbouring plot. "This is a true testimony of how past policies are failing the environment, and how authorities such as PA and ERA do nothing apart from implementing these policies even where they evidently are of detriment to our natural heritage." As approved apartments will rise 22m above street level on a T-shaped plot fronting Triq il-Pwales and Triq il-Ħaġra l-Wiefqa. BirdLife's Head of Conservation Nicolas Barbara