What started off as an application for a small project in the heart of Sliema in 2003 has now become a massive project, Sliema local councillor and environmentalist Michael Briguglio said this morning, referring to the proposed 38-storey Townsquare development to be built on the former Union Club site.

The Sliema council, he said, is objecting to the project and has even submitted its objections to MEPA. The deadline for objections to be submitted to MEPA is 3 August.

Addressing the media in Sliema, Mr Briguglio - along with Alternattiva Demokratika representatives - said that another 40-storey building is to be developed at Fort Cambridge - a stone’s throw away from this proposed development.

He said the Townsquare development will “darken” Qui Si Sana and will have a negative impact on residents. Mr Briguglio said that the talk of the day in Sliema is that the locality is not Taghna Lkoll any longer but is owned by two developers - Gasan and Fenech, the investors behind the Town Square project. Last year, the Townsquare proposed development was of 34 storeys but the new proposal is that of 38 storeys.

He said that before the general election, the Labour Party had said that it will listen to the people and that it will base any proposed developments on Environment Impact Assessments but, instead, the development has been expanded.

Mr Briguglio also said that the regulator is meant to chase residents for their feedback but in Malta things are done differently and MEPA has become the government’s ‘poodle’.

AD chairman Arnold Cassola said that the development will bring with it some 4,000 additional cars which will create more traffic congestion and pollution. This, he said, will have a negative impact on the quality of lives of residents. He said that it is an insult for the Townsquare developers to have said that the project won’t have a negative impact.

AD councillor Carmel Cacopardo said that permits for developments of this sort keep being issued despite the fact that there are 72,000 existing vacant properties.

He said that residents who have invested in solar energy panels can dispose of them since such developments will create so much shade that the panels will become useless.

A number of Sliema residents also joined AD during the news conference.

On the issue of tall buildings in Malta, the Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar said in a statement issued this morning that it echoes Dr Ali, a Chicago-based expert who was commissioned by MEPA to prepare a report on tall buildings in Malta which concluded: “Both commercial and residential high-rises are not justifiable from a strict economic point of view.” 

Similarly, the FAA said, the Chamber of Planners opined that “tall buildings are being promoted for speculative reasons”. And the Chamber of Architects added “formulas that work abroad may not apply to Malta”.

FAA maintained that the first step in processing applications for tall buildings applications should be investigations into whether the infrastructure of the area can support more building, residents and traffic.  The Tigne peninsula already suffers gridlock while the repeated power cuts in this very area recently show that the electricity network cannot cope with the present pressure, let alone the increased consumption of two high-rise buildings.

The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings together with the UNESCO Sustainability Committee have together issued a report questioning the environmental validity of tall buildings as they require more energy to heat and cool the building than traditional structures, and create ‘heat canyons’ in the neighbourhood, causing increased heat, lack of sun and air to the homes in the area.

FAA is extremely concerned that recent MEPA proposals on environment studies omit Social Impact Studies from the requirements for major projects. Already we have seen traffic impact survey conclusions that are patently biased in favour of the development.  Disregarding Social Impact Studies shows that the residents needs are being ignored by this government.

The proposed Townsquare development will destroy much of the garden of Villa Drago, one of Sliema’s few surviving heritage buildings, which garden is supposed to be protected, the FAA continued.

FAA called for a more creative, holistic, long-term approach to Malta’s development which would protect green areas and residents’ rights.