Pembroke mayor Dean Hili, who is the local council’s representative on the Planning Authority Board for the db Group’s ITS site proposal, has said that he will be voting against the proposal when the application is discussed later this month.

Hili said that a preliminary board meeting on the proposed development which lasted around four hours has been held.

Recently, the Case Officer who was processing the highly controversial proposed City Centre development application had recommended that the project be approved. The Planning Board is set to be hear the application and take a decision as to whether to approve or decline the proposed development on 20 September.

Hili said that Pembroke will be the most affected locality with the development, and welcomed that his local council will have a member on the PA’s board with voting rights.

Hili said that the project’s design is incongruent from the surrounding area, highlighting that the residential buildings around are no higher than two storeys from street level. He said that the proposal jars.

He feels preoccupied with the lack of a comprehensive master plan for Paceville, Pembroke, St Julian’s and Swieqi, as well as the surrounding localities. Hili stressed the need to consider the cumulative effects of the amount of app;lications for high rises in the area, and by this he did not mean just the visual impacts.

Turning to the proposed Pembroke tunnel, one of the traffic mitigation measures proposed, he said that it would not solve everything. Northbound traffic, he said, does not seem to be addressed. He also said that the tunnel does not seem to be a condition for the project, but just a suggestion which could, or could not, materialise.

He said that the tunnel ould require a separate planning application, and said he believes that this should be considered today, and that it should allow drivers to reach Paceville from the Coast Road.

He noted positively that certain suggestions made by the council were taken on board, such as the increased open spaces in the project, and others.

He said that despite certain aspects having been mitigated, it is clear that there is a fundamental divergence in thought, and the council’s position is clear. He said that he will be voting against the project in the public meeting on 20 September.