Members of the Sliema Local Council yesterday unanimously voted to file an appeal against the development of what is known as the Townsquare project, which was approved by the Planning Authority Board on 4 August.

The vote to appeal the PA’s decision had the support of the representatives of the PN, PL and the AD Local Council representatives. Sliema local council is made up of seven PN representatives, three for the Labour Party and one for Alternattiva Demokratika.

Last week, AD Councillor Michael Briguglio had tweeted that he will be putting forward the idea during a Council Meeting to appeal the project.

The Planning Authority Board approved the Townsquare development project, with seven Board members voting in favour and six against.The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) representative was sick and was unable to attend the hearing, and the ERA are not allowed to send a replacement.The project will include a 38 storey tower built on the Union Club site in Sliema. The Townsquare project will feature 159 apartments, 4,700 square metres of office space, 10,000 square metres of retail space and 748 parking spaces as well as the restoration of the nearby Villa Drago.

During yesterday’s council meeting, Labour Party representative Lisa Cassar Shaw, who also backed the idea to appeal the project, complained that the project became too politicised. She also instead that the media should not have been present during the meeting.

The Council will be formally presenting the appeal within 30 days after the publication of the PA’s decision in the Government Gazette. It also agreed to meet environmental NGO Din l-Art Helwa who had sent a request to appear as parties to the Council’s appeal.