The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) yesterday approved the outline development for the Fort Cambridge project at Tignè Point, Sliema.
The developers are proposing to tear down the Crowne Plaza Hotel, build 345 apartments, restore Fort Cambridge and the nearby barracks and provide a link with the nearby Garden Battery.
The apartments will have an elevation of up to 23 storeys. Mepa board member Joe Brincat voted against the plan, while the other members voted in favour. Three board members walked out of the meeting before voting time.
Sliema residents harshly opposed the projects, contending that they would undermine the environment and their health, that it would be an eyesore and attract an enormous amount of vehicles which Tignè streets are not prepared for.
Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party Chairman Harry Vassallo, himself a Sliema resident, said the project taken in consideration with the Pender Place Project, Town Square Project, Manoel Island Project, the Hilton and the Mater Dei Hospital will generate enough traffic to clog Regional Road and the Northern Harbour District roads. This project will influence people from Mosta, Naxxar and Bugibba, said Dr Vassallo.
Dr Brincat contested the plan, saying that according to the law, buildings must be at most as high as three times the width of an adjacent road. Therefore, he said, in this case, every storey must be just over one metre high, as on average, adjacent roads measure nine metres in width.
Mepa Chairman Andrew Calleja decided that the board should discuss the legal point with its advisor. After the recess, the board decided that the legal point falls within the remits of the Department of Public Health.
Several objectors had contended that Mepa was not operating lawfully. Dr Simon Micallef Stafrace criticised the Director of Environment Protection who advised Mepa not to draw up an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). Such a study, he said, is vital in order for Mepa to decide how the project will affect the environment.
Without this study, said Dr Micallef Stafrace, the board cannot take a decision and does not have the legal right to take a decision at the moment. He also quoted an EU council directive that said that EIAs have to be drawn up in advance of any proposed developments.
Sliema councillor Martin Debono also contended the legality of changing the maximum height of buildings from 16 storeys, as proposed by the Development Brief (DB), to 23 storeys. He said this fact should not have been negotiable, as the DB is the basis on which the call for tenders was issued. Architect Debono complained also that plans were changing constantly and that he had only 48 hours to study the outline plan, while regulations stipulate a maximum of 30 days.
Developers said the elevation was changed after negotiations with residents, whereby it was agreed that development will take place only in 37 per cent of the total footprint, rather than 60 per cent as per DB. The extra storeys will compensate for the loss on ground floor level, while it was guaranteed that 90 per cent of the new open spaces will be open for the general public.
Astrid Vella from from Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar said the new skyline might jeopardise Valletta’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status. She said the Fortina Hotel is already visible from Vittoriosa, and the proposed buildings will be even higher than that, thus ruining the Valletta skyline. Dr Brincat said people entering Valletta from near the Education Ministry will think they are in Hong Kong.