Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/662335
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 APRIL 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Quarry development a threat to aquifer – Nature Trust JAMES DEBONO NATURE Trust is warning that any building in Wied Ghomor will impede the replenishment of the mean sea level aquifer and is calling for the reinstatement to its natural state of a quarry now ear- marked for an old people's home. Nature Trust noted that since the valley is composed of the highly permeable lower coralline lime- stone, avoiding the introduction of new buildings is vital for the re- plenishment of the aquifer. Environmental NGOs Din l-Art Helwa and Nature Trust are object- ing to the development proposed in the Wied Ghomor quarry which is being recommended for approval by the Planning Directory. The site is being earmarked for a 248 bed old people's home (115 rooms with two beds and 18 rooms with one bed) which will include an extensive restaurant and gym area. Din l-Art Helwa noted that the latter two developments are not described as being exclusive to the facility. Din l-Art Helwa also noted that the proposed development does not blend in the landscape but will effectively result in a five storey structure, with a two floor build- ing rising up above existing quarry levels. "Instead of proposing two floors from the lowest site level as proposed in the local plan, the ap- plication proposes two floors from the highest site level". Din l-Art Helwa is also objecting to the application because it goes counter to the Social Facilities and Community topic paper which rec- ommends that old people's homes are located in village centres. Din l-Art Helwa also noted that the proposal occupies 8% of the site and not 5% as originally agreed by MEPA. In plans submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Au- thority, the area is being eyed for the construction of a 133-room old people's home, the dimensions of which would occupy 8% of the quarry but rise two storeys above the hole. The rest of the site would be re- habilitated as a public garden and belvedere. In 2011 the MEPA board had concluded that any development on the site should not occupy more than 5% of the quarry. The local plan stipulates that any new build- ing is to "occupy a minimal part of the site". The developers are arguing that the extent of the developable floor space is "extremely important for the viability of the rehabilitation of the valley". They say they want to provide a "high quality retirement com- plex" catering for dependent and independent individuals, as well as all necessary ancillary facilities required in a retirement complex such as a gym, restaurant, a hall and a parking area. Originally the development also included covering a large part of the site with solar panels. But this aspect of the project was dropped due to the impact on the site topog- raphy. MEPA has already asked the ap- plicants' architect to reconsider the intended land-use in view of its Social Facilities and Community Care Topic Paper, which proposed that old people's homes be located close to or within a town or village centre. The Planning Directorate is rec- ommending the approval of the development. A decision on a preliminary permit for the development was earmarked for 4 February but was postponed after an article on this project appeared in MaltaToday and residents started to object. A full permit will be approved at a later stage. Among the issues left pending is how the site will be linked to the road network. The quarry is at present subject to an enforcement order against il- legal dumping, which is still pend- ing. JAMES DEBONO A planning application has been presented to add three more floors to the Plevna Hotel, located in the corner between Locker, Thornton and Hughes Hallet Street in Sliema, a highly residential area in Qui- Si-Sana. The application also foresees an additional receded floor at roof level bring the total number of storeys to 10. The develop- ment is proposed by Roosendaal Hotels Ltd, and will overshadow three neighbouring townhous- es and rise higher than other apartment blocks in the area. The local plan already per- mits six-floor apartment blocks in the area. But the policy on hotel heights approved in 2014 allows two extra storeys over and above the local plan limits. Moreover the application also refers to the development guide- lines approved in 2015, which calculates building heights in metres rather than floors. This policy will enable developers to add extra storeys in cases where existing floors are lower than the stipulated height in metres. The hotel is located in a highly residential area in Tigne and a short distance away from the proposed 40-storey and 38-sto- rey behemoths, one on top of the Fort Cambridge barracks and the other in the area ear- marked for the town square, which abuts on Hughes Hallet Street. A Project Development State- ment for the Fort Cambridge project has warned that devel- opment risks "elbowing resi- dents" from the area. The document warns that the new 40-storey hotel may en- courage "further investment in commercial activities", which could result in "pressures on existing uses, which could be residential, to be elbowed out of the area". For the past decade residents of this particular area of Sliema have experienced daily hard- ships with cranes blocking normal traffic circulation in Thornton Street, Locker Street, MacIver Street, Tigné Street, Hughes Hallet Street, Mattew Pulis Street and Pace Street. Hotel Plevna set to rise by four more floors 4,000 square metres of agricultural land to be lost to Enemed's fuel tanks JAMES DEBONO THE relocation of fuel tanks from Birzebbugia to a fuel stor- age complex will result in the loss of around 4,000 square metres of agricultural land in Ghaxaq, which is to be replaced by a huge fuel dispensing station owned by Enemed for the refuel- ling of 40 road tankers on a daily basis. The project will provide a fuel filling facility for road tankers servicing local fuel service sta- tions. Enemed is the only importer and distributor of gasoline in Malta. A decision to relocate the fuel storage facilities in Birzebbugia has already been taken by the government. This installation is located in close proximity to residential areas and its decom- missioning will reduce the need for road tankers to drive through residential areas. But the re-location will come at an environmental cost. The new 6,600 square me- tre site, parts of which include maquis vegetation and an olive grove, lies within a designated Area of High Landscape Value and Site of Scientific Importance (SSI) as identified in the South Malta Local Plan. The access road will also be considerably widened to accom- modate the new facility. An ex- isting country lane will also be resurfaced. The westernmost part of the site boundary is located just under 10 metres away from the Ħas-Saptan groundwater bore- hole room, and the entire site is located within 200 metres of this public borehole. However studies have shown that the risk to the aquifer is low if adequate precautions are taken. The project is earmarked in an area known for funerary archae- ological discoveries. The site is partly protected by a local plan policy, which pro- motes the use of the olive grove for informal recreation, and does not allow the development of any built structures other than benches. Corradino alternative discarded A Project Development State- ment reveals that Enemalta dis- carded the idea of relocating the fuel tanks to the Ras Ħanżir in- stallation at Corradino, which is currently used for gasoil storage. This option was considered by Enemalta because it "consid- ers it preferable, for logistical and op- erational efficiency reasons, to locate the dispensing fa- cility close to Has- Saptan" since this is already used to store the fuels being dispensed. "This (Ras Ħanżir) option would have required the exist- ing installation to be upgraded to start storing gas- oline and other fuels". The PDS claims that the con- struction of new pipelines for gasoline, diesel and kerosene to another site would raise the ap- plicant's costs significantly and potentially render the project unfeasible. The proximity to MCAST was also another con- sideration in ruling out the site even if the site is already used for the storage of gasoil. Benghajsa was discarded because the land there is not owned by Enemalta.