A planning application that would see the construction of a new Chinese embassy in Pembroke is set to be decided by the Planning Authority on Thursday.

The application would see the construction of a 19,115 sqm embassy complex. The site, on Triq Suffolk, is located within Pembroke’s development zone and is, according to the application, currently ‘vacant land’.

However plans for the site, and even the case officer’s report that would normally accompany applications detailing information about the proposal in relation to planning policies, are not public.

The Malta Independent asked the Planning Authority about this situation, however was told: “As you are aware this application concerns an embassy complex. The applicant (the Chinese Government) has requested that given the nature of the building (ie an institutional building), its security needs to be safeguarded. The Authority is restricting access to the application report and plans in accordance with the specific proviso in the Development Planning Act.”

The proviso in question is over applications relating to national security, defence, banks, prisons, the airport and other institutions or premises whose security it is desirable to safeguard.

Some plans which are available are the building’s elevations as planned back in 2019, however these are indicated to have been superseded.

The application has been recommended for approval.

In the documentation that is available to the public, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH) stated last August that “photomontages confirm the development is evidently one of very high intensity and visibility, with inevitable impact on the spatial and visual context of the surrounding scheduled buildings.”

The site is located right next to Grade 2 scheduled barracks and next to Australia Hall.

“Whilst appreciating that the proposed structure is intended as an embassy, SCH and Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee (CHAC) still recommend that the proposed height and intensity of development is reduced in order to minimize the visual interference of the proposed structure with the views and vistas of the existing historical scheduled structures in the vicinity.”

A response letter was then issued to the SCH comments, highlighting that aerial photomontages and photomontages from various streets were being re-submitted for further reference. “The lower part of the site shall include landscaping and the planting of trees and shall serve as a landscaped belt and therefore a buffer zone between the proposed development and the surrounding military structures.”

The response letter read that “although the proposed buildings vary in height, the existing site has a sloping terrain and the proposed building heights are within context when considered from the existing Triq Suffolk.” It said that the consular and office buildings will be built on the highest point, on the part of the site near Suffolk Road, having a height of 2 and 3 floors respectively. The residential buildings are proposed at the lower part of the site, not exceeding the height of the office buildings;

“In view of the nature of the building, the proposed development includes a site coverage of 17.6%, substantially lower than the allowable footprint of 90% for the allowable alternative development on the site. If the building heights had to be lowered, for the required functions of the Embassy buildings, the building footprint would need to be increased, thus substantially reducing the proposed soft landscaping on the site, currently proposed at circa 39%.”