Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1499951
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 MAY 2023 NEWS NEWS JAMES DEBONO AFTER a three-year saga involv- ing numerous changes to plans, the Planning Authority has issued a permit to the Labour Party for the erection of a seven-floor block on the site of its political club in Gzira. The building is located just across the road from the historical Orpheum Theatre. The permit entails the dem- olition of an existing three to four-storey building which also hosts the party's club. The new development will include a full- blown restaurant at ground floor and basement levels, a party club and hall on the first floor, and overlying nine apartments. The permit was originally rec- ommended for refusal by the case officer who flagged several instances where the proposed de- velopment is in breach of policy. These included a failure to pro- vide the required parking spaces. In fact, the development makes no car parking provision while creat- ing the need for 16 parking spaces. The development also exceedes the 20% capping of one-bedroom apartments. Four of the proposed nine apartments have one bed- room. Both objections were overruled because the area in question is considered as "a restricted site" - one whose depth is less than 12.5m. Existing policies allow the PA to "waive" these requirements when dealing with applications on these sites. Another objection concerned the proposed restaurant, which the case officer argued will be lo- cated in a residential area. This objection was dropped after the applicant presented evidence of other permits for restaurants in the area. The commission concluded that the proposed height of the build- ing is in line with the height lim- itation of 20.8m measured from the highest street level. In a meeting held in November the Planning Commission had still expressed concerns on the visual appearance of the proposed building because it did not fully respect the context of the sur- rounding structures. This concern was addressed af- ter the presentation of new plans which introduced a setback 1.74m for a length of 6.03m at fifth floor level at the corner between St Pat- rick Street with Sir Charles Cam- eron. In 2020 the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (SCH) had warned that the Labour Party's plans to demolish its Gzira club and replace it with a seven-storey building would have "a negative impact" on the setting of the Or- pheum Theatre, a Grade 1 build- ing opposite the site proposed for development. But subsequently the SCH had deemed the proposal acceptable following changes to the project's design and in view of the context of the development. PL gets permit for seven-floor apartment block in Gzira Photomontage (top) of development presented in September 2021 before plans were changed eliminating arches on ground-floor level and introducing further setbacks on the top floor MATTHEW AGIUS A furniture factory worker has been declared not guilty of failing to take the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of a worker who died in a horrific ac- cident in 2015. 17-year-old Matthew Bartolo died in 2015 after getting trapped between two moving parts of a machine used to manufacture doors at Construct Furniture, which he had been assisting in op- erating. 51-year-old Peter Blundell, who had been supervising the new employee, had been charged with failing to take reasonable health and safety measures at the Luqa factory. Blundell, a carpenter with dec- ades of experience, had helped Bartolo place a sheet of wood on the machine, in preparation for cutting, before returning to his place behind the machine's con- trol console. Once started, the machine would automatically fol- low a programmed route around the wood, cutting it into the de- sired shape - in this case a door. There was no further user input after starting the process, which could, however, be stopped if an emergency toggle was pulled - as Blundell had in fact done. The machine had a barrier ex- tending along its front and sides, but not behind it, noted the court. The victim suffered horrific inju- ries and multiple fractures before the machine could be stopped. Bartolo was rushed to hospital, where staff had tried to restart his heart for over an hour, but their efforts were in vain. Bartolo was declared dead at 1:30pm that af- ternoon. Blundell had said that after the wood had been placed on the ma- chine, Bartolo had gone to acti- vate a suction mechanism, which was on the outside of the protec- tive barrier. He had seen the victim close the gate behind him and step on the pedal to activate the vacuum, twice asking Bartolo whether everything was OK and receiving the reply that it was. The second time, the victim had also made a thumbs up signal to indicate that everything was in order. Seeing that Bartolo was on the outside of the barrier, he pressed a button to start the machine's pro- grammed cutting operation. Another worker who had been present at the factory had testified to having heard Blundell ask Bar- tolo whether he was OK, and the victim replying that he was, before the machine was switched on. A few seconds later, he heard Blundell shout in alarm, telling him to activate the emergency stop, which Blundell had then toggled himself after reaching it before the other worker. Magistrate Leonard Caruana ob- served that the magisterial inquiry and the testimony of the two men who had been working with the victim at the time provided no ev- idence that the victim was inside the safety barriers at the time the workplace tragedy occurred. The responsibility of the oper- ator of automated machinery is greatest in the moments leading up to the machinery being start- ed, said the court, adding that the operator must ensure that there is no danger to anyone in the vicini- ty before turning it on. "In the opinion of the court the defendant fulfilled this obligation by ascertaining, both visually with the victim as well as asking him directly on two occasions wheth- er everything was in order, before starting the machine." What was certain was that the victim managed to go beside the machine without opening the gate in the seconds between the ma- chine being started and the inci- dent, said the magistrate. "Had the gate been opened, the machine would have stopped op- erating," noted the court, pointing out that the barrier did not fully encircle the machine, leaving the back portion of it accessible, even during its operation. "This is why the court, whilst expressing its sorry for this trag- ic and unfortunate incident, does not find that the defendant failed to carry out his obligations im- posed on him by [the law.]" Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri represented Blundell as defence counsel. Furniture worker not guilty of negligently causing death of 17-year-old employee in 2015 Matthew Bartolo, from Kirkop, died following an accident at Construct Furniture's factory at Hal Farrug