Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536520
6 NEWS 6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JUNE 2025 JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Nine-storey block proposed instead of Pietà BOV branch A nine-storey-high residential block consisting of 24 apart- ments is being proposed instead of the Bank of Valletta branch in Pietà, opposite the Msida Creek garden. The development will consist of a ground floor level to ac- commodate 13 parking spac- es, a retail shop, seven floors of apartments and a receded floor on which three penthouses are planned. In the application, developer Michael Bugeja, a director and owner of the Bilom Group, has declared owning the entire site. The site is presently occupied by the two-storey-high Bank of Val- letta branch and is sandwiched between two six-storey blocks. Plans show the new building rising one to two floors higher than adjacent buildings. The local plan sets a building height of six floors with a semi basement in this area of Msida and Pietà. This translates into a street façade height—excluding the penthouse level—of 25.6m, according to present policies. No excavations are being proposed in the flood prone area. Developer Michael Bugeja declared owning the entire site that houses the Bank of Valletta branch, which is now earmarked for another residential project Naxxar council concerned by hotel close to UCA THE Naxxar local council is concerned over an application seeking to develop a 46-room 'boutique hotel' in close prox- imity to the protected Urban Conservation Area. The hotel along Triq San Ġorġ is being proposed by Victor Chetcuti's Mancunian Ltd and involves the construction of a six-storey extension in the back- yard of the existing building. The hotel will be stepped down from the current structure. The backyard includes seven citrus trees. The backyard, where most of the proposed new development is being proposed, lies outside the locality's Urban Conser- vation Area. No additions are being proposed to the exist- ing building fronting Triq San Ġorġ. The council's concerns revolve around "the scale and intensity of the guesthouse, the loss of garden open space, and the im- plications for the character and visual integrity of the UCA." The application, as submitted, foresees the excavation of the back garden to make way for the construction of a hotel with 40 bedrooms, three family rooms, and two suites. The develop- ment also includes an external pool area, a breakfast area, and a gym spread across two under- ground levels. Plans submitted with the ap- plication indicate that the new hotel structure will abut an even higher existing blank party wall of another development located outside the UCA. The proposed site in Naxxar The nine-storey block is being proposed on top of the Bank of Valletta Msida Creek Garden branch NATIONALIST MP Claudette Buttigieg has announced she will not be seeking re-election in the coming general election. "Until the election arrives, I will continue to serve my duties in Parliament and wher- ever the party needs me, just as I always have. I am ready to help wherever needed, but the time has come for me to make space for someone else," Buttigieg said. She was elected to parliament for the first time in 2013, and was re-elected in 2017 and 2022. In the last election she was elected on the twelfth district as one of six PN female candidates who benefitted from the gender corrective mechanism. "This is a crucial moment for the Nation- alist Party, but above all for the country, which needs a stronger Opposition," she said. The MP confirmed she was approached to contest the party's leadership following the surprise resignation of Bernard Grech last week. "I too have been approached by a number of people to contest the position of PN lead- er, but I made it clear to everyone that I will not be taking that step. In fact, after thor- oughly discussing it with my family, we have decided that I will not be contesting the next general election," she said. Buttigieg is the second PN MP to announce the end of their parliamentary career in this legislature. Earlier this year, Ivan J. Bartolo said he will not contest the next election. Claudette Buttigieg will not seek re-election KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt