After a marathon session, the Malta Environment and Planning Board yesterday gave the go-ahead to the master plan for the redevelopment of Pender Place and Mercury House into a commercial, residential and high rise complex.

In what was quite a tame affair by normal standards, the board and the applicants, Pender Ville Ltd, managed to acquiesce to the demands of the residents over what they claimed would be an excess of public parking spaces under the said development adjacent to the area known as The Gardens.

In another vote, the Mepa board approved, in principle, the construction of an LPG fuel storage area in Benghajsa, to remove the perpetual thorn in the side of Birzebbuga residents that is the present structure sitting very close to residential areas.

The Outline Development Permission for Pender Place and Mercury House was approved on the basis of the development brief recently issued for the areas. The application is for a multi-use development mainly consisting of residential, tourism, commercial, and public car parking facilities. The sites to be developed are currently a public surface car park and a compound comprising Mercury House and Maltacom facilities.

The proposal for Pender Place consists of a series of buildings of varying heights, including tall buildings fronting St Andrew’s Road and revolving round a considerable landscaped central open space.

The buildings facing St Andrew’s Road are a mix of commercial and residential structures. The further inward one goes from the road, the residential component of the project is increased, the reason being to create a quiet residential area, which is well protected from traffic noise.

The two sites of Pender Place and Mercury House are linked via a pedestrian bridge, which gives the opportunity to the patrons to travel safely from the commercial part of the project at Pender Place to the Mercury House site. Through the bridge one finds his way towards the heart of Paceville by going through a series of piazzas and links through which a myriad of commercial outlets would be accessed.

In line with the recommendations of the development brief, the Mercury House site will consist of commercial buildings (including a tower block), which will house the tourist accommodation, a supermarket, commercial outlets and residential apartments. Mercury House, which is a scheduled building, will remain protected.

Apart from the issue of height of the buildings, which Mepa has reserved the right to consider changes on some, residents claimed that the addition of so many underground spaces was going to impact on their quality of life.

They said that the provision of so many spaces would result in even more exhaust fumes, because of which they already suffer from adverse effects. The board, using common sense, studied the traffic plan and identified that there would indeed be an excess amount.

The board also pointed out that the subsequent lack of digging into the ground would also be beneficial for existing neighbours. As a result, while leaving permission to construct residents’ parking, the board allowed the developer the leeway to not have to provide them. Public parking, however, will still be provided under the Mercury House site.

Pender Ville, headed by Edmund Gatt Baldacchino, had already said that the developer was more than prepared to do this and was trying to find a fair solution for all.

Mepa also ruled that the developer’s contribution to the authorities for creating car park spaces should be handed over to the Malta Transport Authority for the setting up of a park and ride system.

Another issue that residents were concerned about was the green area, which is being created on the site. They enquired about policing as they were already fed up with vandals, drug abuse and alcohol consumption around the area. The developers stepped in and assured them that while they could still have access during the day, like any other member of the public, the area would be closed off at night and would be policed by security guards.

Earlier during the session, the board unanimously approved the relocation of Enemalta’s LPG plant to a disused quarry site at Ix-Xoqqiet, Benghajsa; the proposed LPG plant site is adjacent to the existing Oil Tanking fuel transhipment depot. It has a site area of approximately 77,000 square metres. The site caters for storage facilities of LPG and will have a bottling and distribution depot, and the proposed plant will also improve on importation, bottling and distribution processes.

Importation will be carried out from the Malta Freeport area and therefore no new quay and port facilities will be constructed. The location of the plant lies away from residential areas, for safety reasons, and near a sheltered port thus avoiding expensive and potentially dangerous pipelines.

In addition, the plant will not be heavy on the eyes as it will be located below the quarry wall levels. However, the board emphasised that good communication must be kept with all concerned, especially with the aviation authorities, to ensure that there are no dangers posed to aircraft on final approach into Malta as the present flight plan lies right over the site.