The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) is requesting the developers of the Fort Cambridge project in Tigne, Sliema to submit an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) before the outcome of the full development application is decided.
Although the developer, George Muscat, was not requested to submit an EIA for the outline development permit, Mepa, in a move that is not done frequently, has asked him to submit an EIA in the early stages of the processing of the full development application.
The full development application, PA2752/07, was submitted on 23 April and is for the construction of residential apartment blocks overlying four levels of underground car parking and a leisure facility with 341 apartments.
The outline development application had been approved on 8 March and requested the demolition of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, restoration of Cambridge Battery, six apartment blocks containing 386 flats, four levels of underground parking, private service amenities for residents and change of use from barracks to offices.
The developers had submitted a Project Description Statement (PDS), which forms part of the EIA, for the outline development application.
However, the EIA process can be stopped when the PDS has been submitted if there is enough information to take an informed decision.
In February, a notice appeared on the Government Gazette stating that the developers had been exempt from submitting an Environmental Planning Statement for the outline application “in view of the fact that Mepa has sufficient information to take a decision.”
It went on to say that the PDS provided sufficient information on various impacts and mitigation measures with the exception for wind and visual impacts. These two had “to be studied in the application for the full development permit.”
The legal notice also stated that Mepa reserved the right to request the “applicant to submit further additional information as may be necessary to determine the application.”
Mepa is now requesting the developers to submit an EIA.