Mott Macdonald representatives have denied having any conflict of interest in the drafting of the Paceville master plan, despite admitting to having been contracted for engineering consultation on the Mercury House project.

The representatives of both Mott Macdonald (Damien Price, Rob Ford) and Broadway Malyan (Jeff Nottage), the two consultants used for the plan, were being grilled by the Environment Committee in Parliament. “We were appointed in early May 2016 to work on the plan, the point of which work started and any work on previous projects had concluded,” Mott Macdonald representative Damien Price said.The Environment and Development Planning Committee meeting room was packed with developers, their lawyers, ENGO representatives, residents, business owners, GRTU representatives etc. as the committee continued its discussions on the Paceville master plan.

The Mott MacDonald representative, Damien Price (above), explained that in March 2016, they, along with nine others such firms, were approached with the idea to draw up an integrated transport strategy for the area. In early April, the Planning Authority then gave them the terms of reference and they submitted their proposal in late April.

He said that they were working, on an advisory basis relating to engineering, on the Mercury Tower project between January to April 2016.

The representatives again stressed that the engineering consultancy works on the Mercury House ended before their work on the Paceville plan began.

Mr Price said that Broadway Malyan was the organisation that dealt with the specific sites in the plan and urban planning, and that Mott Macdonald worked on transport and infrastructure.

The Mott Macdonald representatives also said that details on projects between different Mott Macdonald teams are kept seperate from one another. He also said that Mott Macdonald has 16,000 employees.

Damien Price said that as lead consultants, Mott Macdonald were involved in taking Broadway Maylans output and consolidating the final plan into one document. They said that they did not change anything Broadway Malyan said with regards to specific sites.

Mr Price also said that Mott Macdonald had verbally informed the Planning Authority Chairman about their involvement in the Mercury project in April. This sparked debate on the floor.

Mr Price also said, when asked by PN MP George Pullicino, that there was no disclaimer denying any conflict included in the report. The representative added that they did not feel the need to include it as they were given the go-ahead by the PA Chairman.

PN MP Marthese Portelli said that the onus now moves to government, since the Planning Authority knew of the conflict of interest. Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri said government was not aware of this potential conflict and that she only just found out about this. “Government as such has been very recently made aware of this potential conflict of interest and government wants to make sure that this is taken care of, as if this preoccupies the general public, then we will also make it a point to review any work done where there could have been a conflict of interest”.

AD Chairperson Arnold Cassola said that everyone has now realised that they have to be more suspicious of the PA as transparency is not their “best aspect”.

The representatives said that they did not meet with any stakeholders in the process, and they said they understand that this would be part of the consultation process.

Professor Cassola (above) also asked: When you were given the Paceville map, was it just the special area and had the projects or not? The way you proposed it you have streets going through houses, businesses, etc.” In response, the representative said: “We looked at the land used on the area and tried not to impact the residents as much as we can. This is a master plan, not a fixed scheme. We are seeing here are the principles, the framework”.

GRTU representative Philip Fenech said there are some streets which will be widened, others narrowed, and that the economic equilibrium will be damaged.

Dr Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, a Paceville resident, asked: “how can you justify plonking a tower of 30 storeys and two levels on St George’s Bay, at Cresta Quay, giving it up for private use when it is being enjoyed by everybody today?” In response, the Broadway Malyan representative said they knew the aspirations for that site in terms of floor space. He said there would be public access along the waterfront, and the tall buildings there would not affect the beach. “We wanted to protect views from the valley down to the bay,” he said.

One woman said that government is expropriating land to give to the private sector. “No, the private sector needs to buy from us,” she said. Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri explained that the master plan is just an idea of the best possible way the area be designed. "This plan takes transport, waste management etc. into consideration, but at the end of the day, this is still a draft”. Dr Schembri said that the concerns of citizens will be taken into consideration and said that this is not the final plan. Dr Schembri also said that the law does not allow for property to be taken to be given to the private sector.

PN MP George Pullicino said that community consultation should take place while the plan is being drawn up. In addition, he said, the plan looks like a cut and paste project based on the nine developments.  He said the plan should be thrown out. 

Peter Paul Testaferrata Moroni viani of St George’s Park said that an open space is being taken from St Georges park taking up current buildings, when according to a 2005 MEPA brief, the space was meant to be included on the Mercury House site. In response, the representatives of the consultancy firms on the plans said that the reason the space was moved to St George’s park was as they believe it to be the centre of Paceville. 

PA Executive Chairman says there was no conflict of interest

Given the opportunity to defend himself, Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg denied that the consultants for the Paceville masterplan had a conflict of interest. He stressed that Mott MacDonald were working for Zaha Hadid on the Mercury House project, not for the developer.

He said that the work of Mott Macdonald was limited to preliminary consultancy to do with the buildings electricity and structure. He said that when he asked them whether this could impinge on the master plan, they said it would not.

He also stressed that the PA installed a clause into the contract with Broadway Malyan and Mott Macdonald, which would not allow them to work with any party that has anything to do with the plan.