Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/673696
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MAY 2016 News 13 JAMES DEBONO THE Water Services Corporation has asked for a €770,000 bank guar- antee from the Tumas and Gasan group, aimed at safeguarding the structural stability of the sewer gallery which lies beneath the land where a four-tower project has been proposed. The proposed development in Mriehel is composed of four tower blocks – North Tower, South Tow- er, East Tower and West Tower – comprising 16, 18, 20 and 14 sto- reys, respectively, sitting on top of five basement levels. The WSC has also asked for the submission of a "contingency plan" for the deviation of sewage in case the gallery collapses during the works and has to be reconstructed. The WSC is insisting that if this happens the developer would have to pay for the reconstruction. In 2010 the Planning Authority decreed that any development in Mriehel located above the under- ground sewer gallery had to be to the satisfaction of the WSC. The Planning Authority also imposed a condition on development in the area to ensure unobstructed access to the shafts of the underground sewerage gallery. Tumas and Gasan Holdings will be investing €70 million in the pro- posed Mriehel Towers. Mriehel was not included among the localities that will be considered for high-rise buildings of over 10 storeys, when a policy regulating building heights was first issued for public consultation in November 2013. The inclusion of the area has attracted criticism from environ- mental groups, as well as planning ombudsman David Pace. The project will include 39,915 square metres of office space, 1,060 square metres of retail space, a 790 square metre show room, a 1,735 square metre gymnasium and day care centre, a 1,225 square metre supermarket and 33,831 square me- tres of parking spaces catering for 1,032 cars. The towers are to be or- ganised around a central plaza. The project will include elevated, land- scaped walkways and public spaces connecting the towers at Levels 2, 3 and 4. The towers will also have open air terraces on the other levels. The southern part of the develop- ment site is already committed for a multi-storey commercial complex, including a showroom, offices and car parking provision. A develop- ment permit was granted to the same applicant for a five-storey de- velopment in July 2010. A Project Development Statement presented by the developers' con- sultants estimates that the proposal at full operation shall be consuming 7,000,000 kWh in terms of electricity and 109,600 litres in terms of water. Excavations will result in 143,000 cubic metres of construction waste. The material is not expected to be of good quality due to its clay content, and therefore cannot be re-used. The development will result in an increase of 2,800 employees fre- quenting this site. This may increase traffic and emissions in the area. regularisation ary 2014. In its sentence the tribunal disagreed with the applicant's contention that the development on the site constituted a planning com- mitment. "If this argument is taken outside perspective we would come to a point where no part of the island can be saved from any sort of urban devel- opment, which will destroy the entire countryside to the detriment of future genera- tions". The Tribunal called on the Planning Authority and the developer to start discussions to "solve the problem of the massive development on a piece of land which is ODZ and within a rural conserva- tion area" but noted that any solution must "respect the public interest." Further enforcement action was taken during 2014 against the construction of garages, stores, house; formation of a road and deposit of vehicles, scrap and construction mate- rials, all without permit"; and against "construction of walls and deposit of construction materials, vehicles and other scrap without permit". The Project Development Statement states that there is relatively limited information available on what were the previous land uses and envi- ronmental characteristics of the site prior to the construc- tion of the irregular develop- ment. The document refers to an old farmhouse fronting the road and evidence that there was a quarry to the rear of this, which the applicant ex- plains was reclaimed for agri- culture in the early 1950s. Sewage gallery 'may collapse' under Mriehel towers The Mriehel towers being proposed