Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/366326
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 AUGUST 2014 News 4 Proposed town square tower rises to 34 levels JAMES DEBONO NEW plans presented by the Gas- an Group foresee a 34-storey tow- er next to Villa Drago in Sliema, up from the 23-storeys proposed in 2010. The tower is being proposed alongside three smaller blocks, one of which is nine storeys high. The plans were presented on August 1, two months after the approval of a new policy which earmarks the Tigne peninsula as one of six sites ideal for over-10 storey buildings along with Gzira, Qawra, Paceville, Marsa and Mriehel. The town square project, which includes the premises of the former Union Club and the sched- uled Villa Drago, which is to be restored, dates back to 2005 when an application was presented to construct a shopping hall, resi- dential units and an underground car park on this site. A Project Development State- ment presented by the Gasan Group in 2007 proposed a 32-s- torey tower on the site, apart from a public square, pedestrianised areas and a number of smaller blocks. Three years later the height of the tower was slashed to 23 sto- reys, but a new tower rising to 15 storeys was also proposed along with the central tower. An update to the Environment Planning Statement presented by the developers in 2010 stated that the building heights were changed following discussions with MEPA. In 2012 a revised environment impact study recommended that people should close their windows to mitigate the noise impact of the development, prompting a reac- tion by former Planning Minister Mario de Marco, who described this recommendation as "unrea- sonable." The project has been on the backburner for the past two years. The studies commissioned by the developers in 2010 after the height of the main tower was slashed to 23 storeys concluded that the project will have a "minor impact" with regard to the shadowing on the neighbourhood. But the same study acknowledg- es that the project will increase the shadowing on the public open spaces along the Qui-Si-Sana sea- front. "The scheme will extend this impact further over the sea. It will also impact additional areas of the rocky foreshore at noon insofar as there will no longer be patches of sunshine." The EPS update (based on a maximum height of 23 storeys) also assessed the impact on the landscape. The greatest visual impact was felt from a viewpoint near the Preluna Hotel where the skyline will be broken by the tower as well as by the Fort Cambridge develop- ment. The impact on this spot is deemed to be major. Since the site sits behind the Fort Cambridge and Midi devel- opments, the view from Is-Sur tal- Inglizi in Valletta was deemed to be "minor". The development was not visible from Bighi, Vittoriosa and "barely noticeable" from Mdina and from Smart City. Studies presented by the devel- opers estimate that the project will increase peak f lows in Qui-Si- Sana from the present 24,444 to 28,874 vehicles. Sliema council objects to Preluna beach concession JAMES DEBONO SLIEMA local council has object- ed to the development of a beach concession on the rocky foreshore of Ferro Bay. "The council is against any en- croachment on public beaches, particularly on beaches which are in their natural state," Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop told the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in an objection letter sent last week. The council has taken this stance after reviewing the plans submit- ted by the developers and consult- ing its architect. A full planning application fore- seeing the extension of the exist- ing Preluna Beach Club beach concession into the adjacent rocky coast has been presented to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. The new application envisions the placing and hiring of sun beds and umbrellas over 310 square me- tres of public land under the For- tizza at Ghar id-Dud in Sliema. The latest proposal includes the paving of the existing concrete stretch in Ferro beach with what the developers describe as 'natu- ral' stone. The application also envisions the construction of a new revers- ible concrete platform adjacent to the existing concrete stretch, and its paving with 'natural' stone. A staircase to link the current beach club to the proposed ex- tension is also being proposed while plans have been submitted to change the existing concrete boundary with one built using "natural" rock. Earlier on this month Preluna Hotel owner Joseph Preca told the Times of Malta that proposed extension of the lido would not stretch to the foreshore. Preca said the plan was to use part of an existing ditch, intended to protect the fortification from rough seas, and level the ground to be able to use the area for the hir- ing of umbrellas and deckchairs. MEPA has in the meantime re- ceived five other objections from concerned Sliema residents. "For God's sake, not another theft of the public coast," an ob- jection letter sent by a resident said. Another resident referred to the Ferro Bay cove as "a pub- lic beach and rare cove" which is part of the national heritage. An objector also referred to the need to reverse the trend of granting stretches of the Sliema coastline to make way for "low quality specula- tive beach premises… which cater for only a small proportion of the population." Instead, the resident proposed "more genuine quality development which instils a sense of ownership with whoever visits the area."