Alternattiva Demokratrika representatives yesterday joined residents from Xemxija to show their disapproval to yet another speculation project of more than 1,000 flats in the area.
The demolition of the Mistra Village complex has already started even though the final permit has not been granted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority yet, AD said in a statement.
AD chairman Harry Vassallo Vassallo said that the North West Local Plan (NWSP 25) lays down that: "The building height which can be achieved through the application of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) should not exceed eight floors and Mepa will only consider slight departures from this height provided it is satisfied that the scheme has a noteworthy urban and architectural design of the highest caliber." This proposal includes a 19-storey building and therefore can by no stretch of the imagination or the English language, be considered as a "slight" departure.
Great caution should be exercised in view of the precedent that might be generated by a favourable consideration of this application, possibly leading to the development of further similar structures in the area, and to the consideration of a development more than 200 per cent higher than the allowed buildings as being a "slight" departure from the maximum height.
The project would have a negative impact of major significance on the cultural landscape as well as an adverse visual impact from all surrounding viewpoints. It would dominate the skyline from St Paul's Bay and the Pwales and Mistra Valleys, Dr Vassallo said.
The site is located on an archaeological and historical site as designated in the Draft North West Local Plan. Given the destructive element of site clearance, excavation and the immense scale of the proposed project, the encroachment on the surrounding areas of high archaeological significance, amply researched and documented by David Trump, would have a major negative impact on the national and international heritage.
Given the plans to construct underground parking space, no measures have been incorporated to protect and preserve the honeycomb of underground passages and tunnels, some of which lie only metres beneath the site.
Roman Baths, discovered only recently, lie in the immediate vicinity of the proposed project. There are also tombs in the cliff face below Mistra Village itself. Furthermore, one of the last surviving British period grain stores and underground mills in Malta is located squarely underneath the site in question, Dr Vassallo said.
He concluded that it is irrational that in a country with 53,000 vacant properties such projects which benefit only the few are even considered. Dr Vassallo said that Malta needs investment in innovative technology and R&D not more flats which benefit only the speculators.
Meanwhile, AD has already contacted the petitions committee of the European Parliament through Green MEPs, about the issue of high-rise in Malta which are being encouraged without the necessary Strategic Environmental Assessment studies.