Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/710370
4 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 AUGUST 2016 News TECHNICAL ATTACHE` Applications are invited for the position of Technical Attachè in different policy areas to carry out duties at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels falling within the remit of the Ministry for the European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto. Applications will be received at the Corporate Services Directorate, Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, 31B, Tal-Pilar, Marsamxett Road, Valletta, VLT 1850 by not later than noon of Friday, 12 th August 2016.Further details may be obtained from the Government Gazette of 29 th July 2016. Application forms may be downloaded from: https://opm.gov.mt/en/PAHRO/RESOURCING/Pages/Forms%20and%20Templates/Forms-and- Templates.aspx NGOs call on public to petition of Townsquare, Mriehel projects MATTHEW VELLA ENVIRONMENTAL NGO Flimk- ien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has called on the public to petition their MPs ahead of a meeting by the Plan- ning Authority to deliberate the proposed high-rise development in Mriehel. Decisions on Mriehel's four tower high-rise and Sliema's 38-storey Townsquare will be taken tomor- row. The permits for four the Mriehel tower blocks and Townsquare's mega high-rise development are set to be granted, NGOs Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Din l-Art Helwa, Friends of the Earth (Malta) and Ramblers said. "Building high-rise towers is not a case of 'better build up than out into the countryside', as those wanting a farmhouse or weekend getaway in ODZ will not simply buy a high-rise apartment instead. The proof of this is that in spite of all the tall buildings being proposed, the number of countryside applications is at a record high," the NGOs said. The NGOs are asking the public to send a letter to their representa- tives. "It has been said for years that the Maltese economy needs modern offices, however MEPA had stated that approved projects will already provide enough offices for the com- ing years. The banks' reluctance to finance these projects confirms limited demand for retail and office space. The Metropolis and Mistra projects have failed to find finan- cial backing: will other projects end up a burden on the taxpayer like SmartCity and the Addolorata A3 Towers which are being bailed out by the government?" the NGO said. The Mriehel towers will draw 2,900 users but will only provide 1,000 car spaces, which means that 2,000 extra cars looking for parking will increase the rate of air pollu- Crunch time for high-rise JAMES DEBONO THE PA is tomorrow set to take two landmark decisions on two high-rise developments. Will the PA open the floodgates of the high- rise revolution or will it bend in the face of local opposition? asks James Debono The Planning Authority is tomor- row set to take two major decisions with regard to two highly con- troversial high-rise projects; the 38-storey tower proposed by the Gasan group in Sliema and four cy- lindrical tower blocks, comprising 14,16,17 and 19 storeys, proposed in Mriehel by the Tumas and Gasan groups. Controversy about the Mriehel proposal, located in an industrial area, has largely focused on the way this locality was designated as a high-rise zone directly by the gov- ernment after the closure of public consultation. But in the absence of a residential community opposing the idea, the decision on Mriehel is bound to create far less controversy than that on the Sliema Townsquare project which promises four long years of intensive construction activity in a residential area. Approval of the project may thus be more politically toxic. Although the tower will be located in a Na- tionalist-leaning district, Sliema is also home to hundreds of floating voters whose resentment may in- crease with approval of the project. While it is widely anticipated that the PA will approve the Mriehel project, it may be wary of creating resentment among residents who will have to endure the immediate impacts of the project on the sur- rounding infrastructure for the next four years. Both the Mriehel and Sliema Townsquare applications carry the endorsement of the Plan- ning Directorate and the newly set up Design Advi- sory Committee, a com- mittee appointed to assess the design of new build- ings, but are opposed by environmentalists and in the case of Sliema also by the town's local council. While the Sliema applica- tion dates back to 2005, with the height being increased from 23 to 38 storeys in 2015, the Mrie- hel one was proposed in 2015 after the inclusion of Mriehel as a high- rise zone by the government. Mriehel was originally not in- cluded, in a draft high-rise policy document issued for public consul- tation, as a location where high-rise development can take place, and was included in the final document in the absence of any consultation. Planning Ombudsman David Pace had criticized the government for including Mriehel at such a late stage. "The inclusion of Mriehel in the approved zones where the policy is applicable, should have been put to public consultation prior to the final approval by the MEPA board," the planning ombudsman told MaltaToday in June 2014 a few months before the towers applica- tion was presented by the Tumas and Gasan groups. While the government has com- mitted itself to not approve any high-rise project in St Julians – an- other area earmarked for a number of skyscrapers – before the ap- proval of a master plan for the area, a decision on the Mriehel project will be taken before the approval of a similar master plan which is be- ing drafted for the area. No such master plan is the pipeline for the Tigne area, where a 40-storey hotel has also been proposed by GAP Holdings. The role of the Gasan group in the Sliema and Mriehel applications, and the Tu- mas Group also in the latter, is also politically sensitive, due to their in- volvement in the Electro- gas energy consortium, which will be providing Malta with LNG energy for the next 18 years. Ray Fenech, director of the Tumas Group, insisted that the company did not request the inclu- sion of Mriehel in the zones identi- fied for high-rise development. "An opportunity came and we took it," Ray Fenech told MaltaTo- day in 2015, while outlining ambi- tious plans to turn Mriehel into a business hub. 159 new units in Townsquare The Townsquare tower will com- prise 159 residential units, 4,719 square metres of offices, 8,241 sq.m. of commercial space and 748 parking spaces as well as the resto- ration of Villa Drago. The case officer acknowledged that the project will break the Slie- ma skyline but said the PA's policy on tall buildings approved in 2014 now identifies the Tigné area as "a cluster of tall buildings." The project's environmental im- pact assessment said it expected residents in the area to keep win- dows shut to minimize noise dur- ing the excavation, which will take 10 months, and construction, which will take four years. The Townsquare project, which includes the premises of the for- mer Union Club and the scheduled Villa Drago, a former Libyan cul- tural centre, which is to be restored, dates back to 2005 when an appli- cation was presented to construct a shopping hall, residential units and an underground car park on this site. A Project Development Statement presented by the Gasan Group in 2007 proposed a 32-storey 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 storeys, but a new tower rising to 15 storeys was also proposed along with the central tower. The studies commis- sioned by the developers in 2010 – after the height of the main tower was slashed to 23 storeys – con- cluded that the project would have a "minor impact" with regard to the shadowing on the neighborhood. But the same study acknowledges that the project will increase the shadowing on the public open spac- es along the Qui-Si-Sana seafront. "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." It was only in 2015, after the approval of the new policy on high-rise buildings, that a solitary 38-storey tower was proposed. 3,500 more cars in Sliema Environment Impact Studies commissioned by the developers of the Townsquare project in Ti- gné, Sliema, estimate that the pro- ject will increase daily traffic peak flows in the Qui-Si-Sana area from the present 24,444 to 27,947. The projects in numbers Sliema Townsquare Mriehel towers Number of storeys 38 14, 16, 17, 19 Parking spaces provided 748 1,065 Parking required 982 1,563 Increase in traffic generated 3,503 1,362 Gross floor area above ground 57,149m² 41,715m² Amount of construction waste 109,215m³ 166,900m³ Sliema residents are demanding more studies for the development of the 38-storey Townsquare tower