In an Environment and Development Planning Committee meeting on Monday, changes which will see the addition of residential housing to the Hal Ferh zone were approved.
During the parliamentary committee session, guest speaker Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia gave a small speech in favour of the amendments which will pertain to the Hal Ferh zoning permit.
Farrugia continued to explain that the parameters of the original agreement are still in effect. These include the sustainable regeneration of the area without affecting the surrounding zones, holistic design and most importantly that the majority of the land area will be used for tourist purposes.
Farrugia also reminded the committee and the attendees that the land of Hal Ferh is not virgin land as it has already been built up for tourist purposes in the past. Farrugia then went back to the contract where it states that the footprint of the built area is not going to increase. The area of the proposed residential area will be of around 9,000 square metres and the parameters such as the building height, area and density must remain the same, Farrugia said.
Present at the committee meeting were NGO Movement Graffitti, who raised concern that the proposed area which will be used for permanent residential housing will be taking away land which is a rare commodity in Malta. They also added that the land used for the residential area is decreasing the area which is to be used for touristic purposes, which in turn means fewer jobs. Farrugia responded by reassuring them that the terms of the original agreement are not going to be changed and neither will the use of the land.
PN MPs David Thake and Kevin Cutajar, raised concern on why the company owners in charge of the regeneration of Hal Ferh could not complete the task without the proposed residential area. They continued to argue that if this is not possible, other contenders must be considered.
International Hotel Investments CEO Simon Naudi responded to these claims by stating that the area of Hal Ferh is not virgin land and not a single metre will be taken as part of this regeneration project. Naudi also reassured people that the parameters are there and they will follow every single one of them.
The approved proposals are part of a public consultation which is ongoing until 15 December.