Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/531627
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 JUNE 2015 7 News No metro, no high rise, Sliema council says JAMES DEBONO THE Sliema local council has warned that "unless a metro is created," the 38-storey tower next to Villa Drago should not be allowed. The council warned that there is no means of improving the road network to accommodate the increased traffic in the Qui- Si-Sana area. "With no stretch of the im- agination can there be such a development without a radical upgrade of the infrastructure to access the area, such as by metro," the council said in its representations sent to MEPA on the project. According to a previous im- pact assessment when a 23-sto- rey tower was proposed, traffic in the area was set to increase by 27,000 cars. The council also expressed its doubts on the economic feasi- bility of the project, noting that several blocks in the area con- tain a considerable number of unsold apartments while other apartments are about to be put on the market by other projects. The council raised questions on the economic impact of having an over supply of properties and whether this could endanger Malta's economic stability. Moreover it also noted that the lack of planning in the area militates against attracting high net worth individuals to Malta. "It is totally illogical to try to sell or rent apartments to high net worth individuals and then expect them to live adjacent to a construction site in view of lack of planning," it argued. It also warned that construc- tion is bound to take years of excavations and will also in- volve transporting construction material to the site. This will have an enormous impact on the noise and dust levels and on traffic congestion in this major tourism spot. The council also objected to the higher shading on neigh- bouring residents and on the Qui-Si-Sana foreshore and sea. The Environment Planning Statement for the original 23 storey proposal had warned that "the scheme will extend this impact (shading) 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." Dominicans ready to consider alternative sites for new school in Ghaxaq THE Dominican Province yes- terday said that comparisons between its plan to construct a school in ODZ land in Ghaxaq and the government's plan to sell ODZ land in Marsaskala to a foreign construction group were "unfair." While insisting that the planned school in Ghaxaq was within an area earmarked for educational purposes by MEPA, the order added that it was open to other realistic proposals by the government. The Dominicans plan to relo- cate St Albert College from its current site in Valletta to Ghax- aq and in defence of these plans, Provincial Frans Micallef said MEPA's local plan for the south earmarked the selected land for educational purposes. "The site was selected fol- lowing a two-year exercise, in which over 20 sites were evalu- ated together with MEPA," the provincial said, adding that the authority concluded that the site was the most suitable because it caused the least impact on the environment. Moreover, Micallef said the Ghaxaq school cannot be com- pared to the proposal to build a private university in Zonqor Point, Marsaskala because the order's project was of a social nature "which will benefit the education of all Maltese peo- ple". The provincial added that it is open to realistic alternative sites which might be offered by the government, possibly in the south of Malta. The statement comes after re- peated calls for the Church to drop its plans for the building of the college on virgin land in Ghaxaq. Front Harsien ODZ has called on the Church to abandon its two applications to build Church schools in Ghaxaq as the project would obliterate more than 77,000 square metres of agri- cultural land, including rubble walls and mature trees. "There is still time to save this land, and the Church has an opportunity to give a powerful example to the rest of society, strengthening the environmen- tal conscience of the nation on environmental and also ethical and moral grounds. "We call on the church to not only seriously reconsider but also relocate this project inside the development zone, or alter- natively negotiate with the gov- ernment to occupy one of the presently empty public schools," the front said in a statement is- sued last week. Clarification and apologies Curia construction: The Maltese Church is planning to build two schools on virgin land in Ghaxaq Architect's design of the 38-storey tower next to Villa Drago in Sliema In last week's edition of MaltaToday Midweek, the photograph of Saviour Attard erroneously accompanied the report on Page 7, instead of that of Joe Gaffarena. The error is regretted and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.