Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/729537
6 JAMES DEBONO A huge 103-apartment real estate project first proposed 21 years ago was approved on Monday for Xemxija not by the Planning Board, which normally takes major planning decisions under the scru- tiny of the media, but by the Envi- ronment Planning Commission. The project, proposed by An- thony Abdilla, includes two base- ment levels providing 133 parking spaces, 23 lock up garages and four catering establishments on ground floor, 103 apartments on the first 11 storeys and six penthouses on the 11th and 12th floors. 20 years ago residents had object- ed to the demolition of an existing villa and the building's proposed massive proportion and scale. But the Planning Directorate, in a re- port recommending approval of the development, said that since then "the overall context of this area has been drastically changed by other developments". The site, which lies within de- velopment boundaries, consists of a vacant plot and an old villa on a 3,500m2 plot of land between Triq is-Simar and Xemxija hill. The main access to the project will be from Xemxija Hill, which is de- scribed by the case officer as an "important traffic artery". The case officer claims that the 12-storey building respects the four-floor height limitation of the area because of the terraced nature of the development. The report notes that all devel- opments in the area have been ap- proved between two streets, which have a major difference in levels between them. The height differ- ence between the two streets is of approximately 22 metres. There- fore, according to the case officer, the terraced profile consisting of 12 floors "reflects the difference in levels between both streets". The demolition of the existing building was justified because although such buildings were "a common occurrence in the past these have been overtaken by ter- raced development". The high-rise will include a pe- destrian space fronting the com- mercial outlets on Xemxija hill. Abdilla is an owner of ACS Real Estates Limited, whose sharehold- ers include Anton Camilleri, the proponent of the Villa Rosa de- velopment in St Julians. Camilleri is described as the 'client' in plans submitted by the architect of the project. Project could increase pressure for new road No details are given in the case officer report recommending ap- proval, about the Transport Im- pact Statement conducted. Trans- port Malta had no objection to the project even though it is expected to exacerbate pressure on Xemxija Hill. The Imbordin Road, controver- sially proposed as part of the TEN- T network, was meant as a solution to the Xemxija bottleneck before 2008. But amid major environmental concerns, the road was not even considered one of the Transport Authority's priority projects for the period 2007-2013. The Imbor- din Road would have comprised a 545m tunnel that would pass un- der Xaghra ta' l-Ghansar in the Pwales area. It was proposed as an alternative to the Manikata road network, which was shot down in 2006 after protests from farmers in the area. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2016 News 12-storey high structure approved for Xemxija hill Decision taken by planning commission, which normally takes decisions on minor developments A photomontage of the 12-storey development Superintendence asks to plans for grand Sliema JAMES DEBONO THE Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage is "not objecting in principle" to an application presented by the Bilom Group to redevelop a stately building, called The Cloisters, in Mrabat Road, Sliema, but is calling for amendments, especially in the "treatment of the façade" and the "development above the scheduled building". The cultural watchdog also alerted the Planning Authority to the presence of World War II shelters in the "immediate vicinity of the property" which may extend under its footprint "In the absence of appropriate amendments, the application should not be approved," an of- ficial memo sent by the Superin- tendence states. The Superintendence is also calling on the Planning Author- ity to make available the 3D im- ages of the development which it has received from the devel- oper, and to ask for photographs documenting the interior of the building and to prepare a resto- ration plan for it. The works, which include a boutique hotel, would involve the construction of three new floors above the scheduled building along Mrabat Road. Plans submitted to the Plan- ning Authority foresee apart- ment blocks encroaching on the gardens behind the protected building. The terraced development, which reaches up to six storeys, will front Triq Bonaventura and Triq is-Sorijiet, near the Con- vent of the Sacred Heart. The application seeks to es- tablish the building envelope over the 1,640 square metre site which includes a very large gar- den. The Cloisters enjoys grade 2 protection, which precludes demolition but allows altera- tions and additions which re- spect the architectural context and integrity of the building. But the gardens do not enjoy