Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/810144
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 APRIL 2017 4 News Farsons opt against high-rise, to construct JAMES DEBONO FARSONS have deliberately opt- ed out the policy allowing over 10-storey buildings in Mriehel and have instead proposed seven office blocks of five storeys each with six gardens in between, en- suring a minimal visual impact but the project have a notable impact on residents due to noise and dust during the construction phase. "Although the Planning Policy Guide on the Use and Applicabil- ity of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), 2014 allows for high-rise develop- ments within the Mriehel Indus- trial Estate, Farsons are not seek- ing the construction of high-rise office blocks but are limiting the building height to complement the scheduled Art Deco façade", an environment impact assess- ment report reveals. A total of six gardens will be introduced between the seven of- fice blocks as public open spaces, which will cover a total area of 2,856 m2. The proposed development is based on the conversion, reha- bilitation and re-use of the listed Grade 2 old Mriehel brewery, which includes the old brewhouse (OBH), boardroom, entrance and façade. Its aim is to provide office space for Malta's expanding ICT, gam- ing and financial sectors". There has also been a substantial in- crease in foreign investment, with numerous companies and insti- tutes now operating in Malta. As a result of such developments, the demand for quality office space is on the increase". The area of Mriehel has been recently designated as an Enter- prise Zone which aims at the con- version the industrial estate into a commercial area. In this way Mriehel will offer quality office space beyond the precincts of the business areas in Sliema and St. Julians' which till today are more commonly asso- ciated with such demand. "Thus, whilst the proposed business park would fit within this con- cept, it will also set the standard even in terms of its aesthetic and environmental credentials," the EIA astates. The development foresees the demolition of existing buildings except for the Grade 2 screen façade and the construction of seven blocks, the construction of landscaped courtyards adjacent to the offices and a gymnasium. The project also includes a multi- level carpark which holds 702 ve- hicles. The EIA identifies a number of negative impacts mainly an in- crease in dust, increased noise levels, and visual impacts from short-distance views. The construction phase which will take three years will result in generation of "significant" quan- tities of dust. "Without effective control of the dust being dissipated away from the construction site, the nearby residents will be impacted by having deteriorated visibility, reduced visual amenity of their houses and roads, as well as in- creased respiratory risks." During the operational phase, the increased influx of visitors to the area is bound to increase the vehicular traffic and subsequent- ly the air pollution of the area. It is important to note that the area is already extremely frequented by motorists, and the envisaged in- flux of visitors is not expected to cause more than a minor increase in the impacts to air quality. In order to minimise the disper- sion of airborne particulates gen- erated mainly during the demoli- tion, excavation and construction phases of the Scheme, a number of mitigation measures can be adopted. These include fixed and movable water nebulisers, wheel- washing facilities and wetting of internal roads within the con- struction site. Once the mitiga- tion measures are implemented, the residual impacts reduce dras- tically to a minor significance. During the construction stages noise levels exceeding the 'WHO guidance for noise levels during construction' are expected in one particular location during day- time hours, "possibly resulting in greater difficulty for people to maintain intelligible speech". ERA calls for limits on fireworks factories in countryside JAMES DEBONO A policy facilitating the approval of ODZ fireworks factories ap- proved in 2014 on the basis of recommendations made by a committee chaired by Labour MP Michael Falzon is being questioned by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) which is now calling for addition- al safeguards. According to ERA proposals for new fireworks factories should be backed by sound site-selection studies and feasibility studies including the "establishment of a ceiling for the number of tra- ditional fireworks factories that should be reasonably accommo- dated in the countryside." ERA made these comments in a report in which it objected to a new fireworks factory in Ta' Ger- iska in Gharb, Gozo. Fireworks have claimed over 100 lives over the past century and most fatalities happen in fac- tory explosions. The new policy excludes the development of new factories in level 1 or level 2 sites of ecologi- cal importance but allows the de- velopment of new fireworks fac- tories on "dry" agricultural land whenever such proposals have a prior clearance by an ad hoc technical committee which is re- sponsible for safety and technical aspects. The policy does not set any lim- it on the number of fireworks fac- tories in the Maltese countryside and does not oblige developers to conduct a site selection exercise. A brand new fireworks factory in an area predominantly char- acterised by agricultural land and coastal cliff areas in Gharb in Gozo is deemed objectionable by the Environment and Resources Authority. The proposal already has the clearance of the technical committee. "There is considerable concern as regards to the proposed con- version of a pristine rural site into a fully f ledged fireworks factory covering circa 5000 square me- ters". The development is deemed to be "out of context with the sur- rounding landscape, the natural setting and the agricultural and ecological value of the site". ERA also called for studies showing whether the proposed factory is for the making of fire- works for local summer festas. This study should include a breakdown of the production and usage of other fireworks facto- ries-including one which was ap- proved a few months ago, during the local festas. Last year the PA had already approved an applica- tion to develop a fireworks fac- tory in Wied ir-Raghab in Gharb that had already been rejected in 2012,. The application was ap- proved according to the policy regulating the development of fireworks factories approved in 2014. Chetcuti linked to both major parties CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 It was a rallying call that quickly cap- tured the relationship between the construction industry and the Labour government. It also sent alarm bells ringing among environmental NGOs, who remain alienated by the prime minister's past admission of not wishing to "gold-plate the environment". Chetcuti kick-started a lobby group in favour of developers within the small business cham- ber (GRTU), but he clashed with then director-general Vince Far- rugia. In a notorious altercation between the two men, Chetcuti was charged with Farrugia's at- tempted murder when he as- saulted him during an argument over a text message Chetcuti had inadvertently sent to Farrugia, when it was originally intended for then Opposition leader Jo- seph Muscat. Pilloried by sections of the press, Chetcuti was arraigned in court on the attempted murder charge in 2012. But as evidence against him started to falter in court, the Attorney General downgraded the charge to griev- ous bodily harm, and in the pro- cess, the presiding judge ordered charges of perjury to be filed against senior GRTU members due to false testimony and fabri- cated evidence. Chetcuti was found guilty of the downgraded charges, and re- ceived a suspended sentence. His avowed support of the La- bour Party in the run-up to the 2013 election, saw him as a guest of the party at the Auberge de Castille on the day of the new government's inauguration. When Chetcuti was then ac- cused of having helped raise cash for the Labour Party, he revealed that he had personally donated thousands to PN secre- tary-general Paul Borg Olivier. He spent the last years im- mersed in improving the vis- ibility of the MDA, meeting all political parties, and using the counsel of former Nationalist minister and architect Michael Falzon, who stood by him dur- ing the set-up of the MDA and his court troubles. Only recent- ly, the MDA's annual conference has started to be addressed by both political leaders, symbolis- ing the importance of this indus- try to the mainstream parties, politically as well as economi- cally.