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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 AUGUST 2016 2 News TIM DIACONO THE Planning Authority has de- fended its decision to approve two high-rise projects, after the plans at Sliema and Mriehel were criticised heavily by a group of environmental NGOs. In a brief statement, the PA ar- gued that sites that accommodate high-rise buildings have signifi- cantly more open spaces available to the public than a site which is de- veloped in a conventional manner. It also rebutted accusations by the NGOs – Din l-Art Helwa, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth Malta and the Ramblers' As- sociation – against its planning di- rector, Chris Borg. The NGOs took Borg to task for saying that high-rise buildings have the same impact as low and medi- um rise structures. "It is well known that high-rise cast a longer shadow on surround- ing buildings depriving them of light, air and solar rights, while increasing temperatures in sur- rounding streets due to heat canyon effect," the NGOs said in a joint statement. However, the PA insisted that the NGOs had misinterpreted Borg, arguing that the planning director was only referring to the impact of high-rise on utilities services. "Borg was directly referring to the utilities services and had pointed out that the impact that high-rise buildings have on water, drain- age and electricity is very much the same as low- and medium-rise buildings," the PA said. "This reality stems from the fact that if a site is developed as a high-rise, it will have the same or even fewer apartments than if it is developed as a low- or medium-rise." The PA board on Thursday ap- proved a 38-storey tower in Qui Si Sana, Sliema, and a four-tower block that rises to 20 storeys in Mriehel. The former project is owned by the Gasan Group, while the latter is the brainchild of both the Gasan and Tumas business groups. In their statement, the green NGOs called for a national master plan for high-rise buildings to be approved before any other applica- tions are processed. They hit out at the Planning Au- thority for ignoring expert advice and for not basing their approval of the projects on comprehensive studies. "They were presented with ir- refutable evidence that the Mriehel photomontages on which the Case Officer's report was based, were flawed in favour of the developers, and did not show the true impact of the project," they said. "The visual impact on the iconic view of Mdina is clearly 'major' and not 'moder- ate' as described by the applicants' consultants. Instead of requesting new and updated visuals, the board chose to base its decision on flawed information." Moreover, they argued that the board also refused to take account of the fact that the policy allowing tall buildings in Mriehel was invalid, as it violated established legal pro- cedures. "The inclusion of Mriehel as a high-rise zone was never issued for public consultation as required by Maltese and international law," they said. "This did not augur well for the expected deluge of 22 high- rise applications, some of which were currently being discussed on a case-by-case basis, and proved the urgency of a national master plan for high-rise buildings, before any other applications are processed," the NGOs said. PA rebuts towers' critics: 'High-rise creates more open spaces' Attard retained on Eurovision 'duties' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Attard formerly headed the National- ist Party's television station Net and in 2008, he ran Lawrence Gonzi's media campaign, tak- ing care of every aspect of the PN leader's electoral contest. He was then appointed as CEO at the national broadcaster in 2010. In 2012 Attard did not deny reports that he would quit his post at the national broad- caster, to take up a job at The Times. But he stayed on and in 2013, when Labour won the election, survived calls from Labour's former secretary-general and One TV chairman Jason Mi- callef to resign. Instead he was retained by then home affairs minister Manuel Mallia and instructed to revamp the tel- evision station's current affairs schedule. Micallef, on his part, remained an unstinting critic of Attard, whom he railed against for be- ing a "a Nationalist par excel- lence" and running PBS "always to be of service to the PN". He blamed him for Malta's abysmal showing in various Eurovision outings, Attard's particular area of specialization, where often his expertise in organizing TV and musical spectaculars often came into play. This is where he indeed ex- celled, when he was responsible for Malta's Junior Eurovision Song Contest victories in 2013 and 2015, won by singers Gaia Cauchi and Destiny Chuku- nyere. His resignation in 2014, was turned down by the min- ister responsible for PBS, who described him as being "very competent in his job". During his six-year tenure at PBS Attard was contractu- ally allowed to continue with his private work as director of NNG Promotions, responsible for organising the annual Jo- seph Calleja concerts, among several others. Former TV and radio present- er John Bundy, who also had a stint at the PN's Net set-up, is expected to move into his office tomorrow. Bundy had previously said that he was offered to return to Net TV by PN leader Simon Busuttil, secretary-general Ro- sette Thake and chief financial officer Brian St John. When he departed from the PN television station to later switch on to One TV, his role as a broadcaster served as a soft endorsements of Joseph Muscat when he in- terviewed the aspiring prime minister before 2013. In 2014, he had said: "I had given my word to Joseph Mus- cat to stay on at ONE TV until the 2013 elections," adding that he had considered the posi- tion of CEO at PBS after the elections. "It's true, I did con- sider the position of CEO but it's difficult for this to happen with PBS in the clasp of Silvio Scerri," he said, referring to the former chief of staff under Ma- nuel Mallia, when the latter was home affairs minister responsi- ble for PBS. Anton Attard