Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/952911
maltatoday SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018 9 News JAMES DEBONO 'PIECEMEAL' applications are being filed by developers eyeing a green area inside Luqa's develop- ment zones after the Planning Au- thority ignored opposition from the local council and NGOs. Developers Gap Holdings are resorting to individual applica- tions to develop a green area in- side Luqa after the PA opened the floodgates last year by approving two previous applications. In 2016, GAP presented five dif- ferent applications to develop the site, three of which were with- drawn after objections from the Environment and Resources Au- thority. The ERA initially request- ed information to assess whether an environmental impact assess- ment was required in view of the proposed development in all the five separately presented applica- tions. Following the withdrawal of the three other applications, the ERA confirmed that a downsized de- velopment did not qualify for an EIA. Transport Malta, which had also initially called for a traffic im- pact assessment, also withdrew its demand. But by withdrawing the three applications, the developer could still apply on the remaining sites – which are owned by GAP – at some future date. The environmental NGO Flimk- ien Ghall-Ambjent Ahjar and the Luqa local council had claimed the developers were resorting to piecemeal applications instead of presenting one comprehensive application, which would have obliged them to retain some open spaces. So, in March 2017, GAP filed two applications for 75 new dwell- ing units, which were approved by the PA board. Now new applications are being presented on the remaining open spaces. One of these, filed by GAP owner George Muscat in Novem- ber 2017, foresees the uprooting of trees and rubble walls to erect 19 new dwellings. The application was presented on a bigger site that was originally earmarked for 31 dwellings when it was withdrawn in 2016. The site lies back to back with houses and gardens located in Luqa's urban conservation area, and would cre- ate very high blank party walls ris- ing four storeys. Another application for 19 dwellings has been filed, for the remaining part of the area on which a previous application was withdrawn. This means that 38 dwellings are now being proposed on a site where 31 dwellings were originally proposed last year. Two other separate applica- tions, one by Emanuel Cortis and another by Elton Deguara, for 53 dwellings on another site where GAP had previously withdrawn another application, have also been filed. So development is now foreseen on plots not originally earmarked in the GAP development. Two other applications were filed along Triq l-Iskola by Ludwig Camilleri's P&JC Company, for 44 new dwellings along the same road. Nine other dwellings are be- ing proposed by another owner on a neighbouring site. Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has blaming the Planning Authority for "choking" Luqa's last green lung as hundreds of apartments are being approved "through piecemeal ap- plications on the only tract of open space near the village core and the Luqa Primary school." JAMES DEBONO THE Qormi local council is ob- jecting to a 13-storey high rise, warning of the visual impact the massive tower will have on the entrance to Qormi. The office block will rise up to 45m, and is earmarked in the vi- cinity of the roundabout junction between Qormi road, Valletta road, and Triq l-Erba Qaddisin, on the site of an old farmhouse which will be restored and retained. The council warned against any increase in traffic in the area, noting that the junction was al- ready dangerous, and significant delays were already being expe- rienced along Triq Manuel Di- mech and Triq San Bastjan. Ac- cess to the development is also being proposed directly onto and from the roundabout, which the council says would create a safety hazard to other vehicles using the roundabout. At 13 storeys the development is a "medium high rise" accord- ing to the application presented to the Planning Authority in January by Federico Rossi, who claims full ownership of the de- velopment. Qormi is not included among the localities identified for high- rise development, which is de- fined by policy as any building over 10 floors high. But the de- velopment is being proposed in the vicinity of Mriehel, which was included in the high-rise zone by the government at the latest stage after the conclusion of public consultation on the policy. The high-rise policy failed to define the exact boundaries of the sites proposed for high-rise development. The new high rise will be located a short distance away from a pro- posed DIY retail centre opposite the Qormi park and ride. The PA recently stopped works there after developers started dismantling an old farmhouse in the absence of a restoration method statement. The farmhouse was being de- molished to be rebuilt in another area. Archeological investigations in the area earmarked for the DIY store resulted in the discovery of cart ruts and a Roman tomb, which are set to be incorporated in the development as approved by the Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage. Luqa development grows to 144 dwellings after owners 'split' project Using 'piecemeal' applications, the scale of development on a green area in Luqa is now vaster than before after the PA opened the floodgates of development Qormi council objects to 13-floor high rise