Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1528159
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 OCTOBER 2024 tower on this site was to mini- mise the overshadowing of the beach and retain Villa Rosa as the prominent landmark over- looking the beach. Addressing a parliamentary committee dis- cussing the masterplan, Anton Camilleri insisted that this was not his idea. "I did not write the plan myself. It's not what I had originally submitted, and we still have to make studies on the viability of what is proposed in the master plan." However, the masterplan was later scrapped, following rev- elations that the international consultants had a conflict of interest due to their consulting job for Mercury House devel- oper Joseph Portelli. In the absence of the master- plan, the Planning Authority proceeded with the approval of individual high-rises proposed by different developers, includ- ing the already constructed Mercury Tower, the approved DB project, and another high- rise proposed by Paul Xuereb's PX Lettings, instead of the villas on the road leading to the Eden Cinema. Camilleri's turn is next Anton Camilleri bided his time and applied to renew the permit issued in 2018 while working on new plans, which first came to light in a Project Description Statement (PDS) published in January 2022. The proposed changes, which included two towers of 35 and 27 floors, increased the gross floor area of the pro- ject from 141,000sq.m as ap- proved in 2018 to a staggering 237,000sq.m. Significantly, the PDS invoked the Hotel Heights Adjustment Policy approved in 2014, which allows all hotels within the de- velopment zone to rise two sto- reys above local plan limits and all standalone hotels to rise even higher, provided they included an adjacent public square. In fact, the PDS highlighted the creation of 20,086sq.m of public open space, including a piazza, adding that "in view of such an approach, the High Limitation Adjustment policy for hotels is being applied in view of the development of the open spaces and also circula- tion space requirements." In an indication that the pro- ject was viewed favourably by the powers that be, on the eve of the 2022 election, the Lands Department issued a tender for the sale of a public alley in St Julian's, set to become a 5.5m tunnel to service access to his proposed development in Villa Rosa. Camilleri was the sole bidder, and the land was sold for just €134,000. The shift to serviced apartments Further changes were then made to the project in an Envi- ronmental Impact Assessment presented later in 2022. The project was now set to host 789 serviced apartments, 247 hotel rooms, and a total of 16,000 sq.m of office space. "This is not more of the same project. We are aiming at excel- lence and quality, setting trends for the entire country and the Mediterranean," Camilleri's son Adelbert told MaltaToday in March 2023. Crucially, he emphasised the shift to short-term rental apartments with five-star hotel amenities. "They will gener- ate less traffic than residential apartments, mostly catering for short stays without a need for a car." However, the inclusion of "serviced apartments" con- nected to the hotel develop- ment also enabled Camilleri to build higher, thanks to the ho- tel heights policy, especially if these apartments are counted as being ancillary to the hotel. Camilleri has now attempted to greenwash the project, em- phasizing the removal of the 15 villas already approved along the valley and the creation of an 11,000 sq.m 'Pjazza Trito- ni-size' open square along the beach. But the EIA studies show the project comes at an environ- mental cost with the increased shadowing on Pembroke's res- idential areas and the beach, particularly in the winter months. Moreover, in summer, the shadows of the northern cluster will appear on the beach at 4pm, covering "all the sandy beach" by 6pm. In what appears to be a clear breach of the local plan, the project will compromise the setting of the historical villa. A visual impact assessment shows that the high-rise in some cas- es completely obscures views of the historical villa. A report assessing the impact on cultur- al heritage, also included in the EIA, concludes that "it is very clear that with the proposed de- velopment, the present skyline, with Villa Rosa perched on a Photomontage of current development showing how it will obscure Villa Rosa Photomontage of the development as approved in 2018 according to rules established by the current local plan CONTINUES NEXT PAGE >