Planning applications cannot continue to be considered in isolation, St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

The St Julian’s-Pembroke area has become a hotspot for high-rise proposals, with a number of projects having already been accepted.

Back in 2016, government had presented the Paceville master plan, however, that received a great deal of criticism from the public and was seen as a plan that was pandering to the wishes of certain developers rather than one that really looked after the residents of the area.

It was quickly shelved and, instead of being amended and presented anew, it seems to have been left to gather dust. Since then, planning applications for high rises in the area kept coming in.

In recent weeks, another high-rise proposal was unveiled. The developers behind the Villa Rosa area project in St George’s Bay altered their plans from a relatively low-lying development that was approved a few years ago, to one that would include a 35-storey tower as well as another large 24-storey building. The developers had told this newsroom that while the approved application on site is for a mix of mainly residential, offices and commercial, the new plan is to change it to a mix of tourism, ancillary offices and commercial. The Gross Floor Area of the site is proposed to increase from the 140,994sq.m approved back in 2018 to 237,316sq.m in the new plans.

The new plans would also create over 20,000sq.m of public open space and create a piazza as large as piazza Tritoni, the developers said. The project will also include a road within the site, so that services would not need to use the road by the beach. As for traffic, documents filed with the Environment and Resources Authority, read that the “traffic generation for the revised proposal will be of the same magnitude which has been referred to and modelled on the Traffic Impact Study, which was approved by Transport Malta” for the planning application that had been approved.

 

Concerns and reservations

The Malta Independent contacted St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg for his thoughts about the Villa Rosa project. While not being able to speak on behalf of the local council at this stage, since the project has not yet been filed with the Planning Authority and thus the council has not yet discussed it, Buttigieg did speak in his personal capacity.

"I have reservations even as the height might not be according to policy. I have concerns over the overshadowing of the bay as well as the further commercialisation of the area. The biggest problem, however, is that we do not know if the existing infrastructure can cope with the impact of all this development,” Buttigieg said.

“This is not an isolated project. With it there is the db Group project, another proposal for a 33-storey tower by PX Lettings at the entrance of Paceville and the possibility of the Corinthia development in the future... before a master plan is drafted showing what there is, what can be developed and what the area itself can take, I think it would be immature for the PA board members to take a decision on something when they would not know what the final collective impact would be."

 

A master plan where everyone is consulted

"Planning applications cannot continue to be considered in isolation. By master plan, I am not referring to what government had proposed back in 2016. That wasn't a master plan; it was a case of Father Christmas bringing gifts. Everyone made a wish list and they created it to try and fit in a lot of projects. Ironically, most of the projects mentioned in the master plan are all coming into being, one by one. When I say master plan, I mean that one that takes into consideration not only the buildings themselves, but also small businesses, infrastructure, the realities the residents of St Julian's face, as well as the surrounding localities, namely  Swieqi, that are also affected. A master plan where everyone is consulted. Infrastructure is a major concern."

"Where will the drainage pass from? What about the pavements and roads given the impact from the number of people? Will we remain with a five-star quality building and a one-star infrastructure?” he questioned.

 

Pembroke council not consulted

Pembroke mayor Dean Hili said that the Pembroke council has not been involved in any stage of discussions on the Villa Rosa plans. "I got to find out about the new renders from the news," he said, adding that the project technically falls under St Julian's.

He did, however, give a general comment about the area's infrastructure. "Certain works on arterial roads can help. The other project that could help reduce the influx of traffic is the tunnel project (referring to the Pembroke tunnel from Triq Xatt ta’ San Gorg and the Coast Road). But it will also create other problems, particularly in terms of the openings of the tunnel where potentially we would be taking up virgin, natural land, which is something we are not very keen on. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions for the problems that have been created."

Asked if he thinks the area could take more high rises, he said: "I will not be the one to say that it can. Government recognised the need for there to be a master plan; however this has not been introduced. Unfortunately, then there are piecemeal solutions for different applications. The arguments we made during the db Group application could easily be applied to other projects, that whenever we come to evaluate the traffic a project would create in an area, we do so without seeing the cumulative effect that the different projects will have together. This is the biggest issue. Now if there are works on St Andrew's Road it will slightly alleviate some of the problems, but I don't think it will solve all the problems that these projects will collectively create once they open."

Asked whether he thinks a master plan is badly needed for the Paceville-Pembroke area and if yes, what it would detail, Hili said: “The master plan would have come in handy in determining what projects go where and what should be acceptable for an already dense area, what amount of logistical and infrastructural issues we're able to solve with their introduction – we're a bit late in the day for that now for most cases, but surely we must consider what we want as a country from this area before we kill the hen that lays the golden egg.”

 

‘Ugly for many reasons’

Andre Callus from Moviment Graffitti was asked for his initial reaction to the project. He said that the NGO is completely against the Villa Rosa project.

"It is ugly for many reasons. From what I can see it is near the coastline. Having tall buildings so close to the coast already doesn't make sense. We have said and are still suggesting that there should be a moratorium on very large-scale projects until a master plan is created,” he said, reflecting a proposal made by the NGO back in 2020.

There are many different projects in that area being proposed and if they are allowed without a master plan, then it would be impossible to take their cumulative effect into consideration."

He spoke of the existing towers in the area, as well as ones which are on plan and the db Group project, which is being contested in court. "Their effects will not solely be on the site they are built, as they will create intense activity that needs infrastructure, but in the surrounding areas."

Asked what kind of master plan he would recommend, he said: "The big problem with the 2016 master plan was that they saw what developers wanted and drafted the plan around that. That is how one should not create a master plan. The point of departure should not be the wishes of developers, but start with asking how a better quality of life could be achieved, what is needed on different social and economic levels, etc. Then you create a master plan looking at how you would meet these different needs, also looking at the infrastructure. There should be a master plan for all of Malta and not just for Paceville." He said that large projects require infrastructure interventions in areas outside of Paceville, such as in Swieqi and Pembroke.

Moviment Graffitti is not always against high rises, he said when asked by this newsroom, but said that in order for a high rise to be built, there first needs to be a holistic study of all of Malta, and not just one area, Callus said.

 

High-rise only in designated areas - PN

This newsroom sent questions to the Nationalist Party, not relating to a project in particular, but asking whether it believes a master plan should be drawn up for Paceville and what such a plan should include.

“The PN was always in favour of a master plan for Paceville. The PN believes this master plan should be aimed at maximising sustainable economic growth while safeguarding the well-being of residents and the general public. The master plan must ensure that infrastructure can cope with heavy demand on transport, more efficient waste management and better sewerage networks. Affected councils must have resources to cater for a possible increase in traffic generated by development. Authorities such as ERA and PA must ensure that mitigation measures and development briefs are in place.”

Asked for its position on high-rise projects, the PN said that it “agrees with high-rise projects only in designated areas. We also think the country should focus on creating more green open spaces for the public”.