Two towers of 27 and one of 34 storeys that are planned to rise over St George’s Bay to host 789 serviced apartments, 247 hotel rooms and a total 16,000sq.m of office space would have a major impact on the environment and air quality, an environmental impact assessment report says.
There will be a heavy impact both during the construction phase but also when the project, covering a total of 50,000 square metres, is completed, the EIA said.
The EIA found that the likely impact of the development over the scheduled early 20th-century Villa Rosa in Paceville, together with a beach club across the bay, will be “high”.
The development is being promoted by Anton Camilleri on behalf of Garnet Investments Limited which forms part of the AC Group of companies. It was designed by architect Colin Zammit of the Maniera Group, along with Dutch firm United Network Studio.
The proposed development entails three multi-use high-rises catering for tourism, business and leaisure.
The 34-storey tower with offices, an upscale hotel, and a number of apartments will be connected to the other two interconnected 27-storey towers of apartments.
The project also includes a site in Cresta Quay, where a low-rise waterfront hotel is planned.
The two hotels will have a total of 256 guestrooms/suites: a 132-room hotel on the Villa Rosa site and a 124-room resort on the Cresta Quay site.
A multi-storey car park for 1,365 cars is also planned. According to the report, the proposed development is expected to create employment opportunities, during operations, for 2,259 persons.
According to the EIA report, excavations close to the villa would require the use of chainsaws, to limit any possibility of damage.
The palazzo on the landscape will be overshadowed by the presence of the two towers. It said that the level of significance of the impact would vary from “insignificant to high” depending on the quality of construction site management and recommended that archaeological monitoring is carried out during excavations.
The report established that a development of such magnitude should bring a high impact on the Villa Rosa site, St George’s Bay and neighbouring areas. It said it was likely to affect those residences lying in closest proximity to the sites.
Residences located downwind of the prevailing north westerlies may be affected more than others, mainly due to contamination from fine dust, noise and vibrations. The report recommended the use of air quality monitoring units.
This impact is similar to what residents in the area are contending about the planned project by the db group on the former ITS site. A court case to resolve the issue is ongoing.
In the excavation phase, five construction vehicles will be entering and exiting the site every hour on each working day, resulting in a maximum of 160 inbound and outbound heavy vehicle trips per working day, the EIA said. This will drop to 80 trips when the first phase of the project is completed. On completion, an additional 2,214 car trips will be generated by the offices and hotels on a daily basis, 55% of which by private cars while 45% will be generated by coaches, mini-buses, taxis, carpooling, and public transport. The development will include 1,365 parking spaces.
The project is also expected to create long shadows over the area due to the high-rise buildings, the EIA said. This is particularly of concern in late autumn and winter.
The sandy beach will start being affected by the shadows of the Villa Rosa site buildings at about midday, with the impact being felt till the evening. From sunrise till about 3pm, the bay would be overshadowed by buildings to the south of the bay including the Cresta Quay hotel. The spread of the shadows decreases as the day progresses.
“Given that winter shadows are at their longest, one can safely assume that the level significance of the impact would be moderate to high with respect to residents, the valley, and the sandy beach – with the duration being on the short to moderate. On the other hand, the level of significance would be high on the marine water body during the first three/four hours of daylight,” the EIA states.
The two high-rise towers would start affecting the bay at about 1pm when at 3pm, the shadow will be joined by that of the remaining tower until the bay will be completely in the shadow by 6pm.
In June the shadows of the northern cluster will appear on the beach at 4pm. Initially these will cover about 50% of the sandy area. By 6pm these shadows will cover “all the sandy beach”.
The significance of the impact on the beach would range from moderate to high, depending on the time of day, the EIA said.
The north-eastern corner of the Villa Rosa site is located close to the underground Għar Ħarq Ħammiem. But since the ceiling of the cave is located 23m below excavation level, the impact will be limited, with EIA consultants recommending a “a chainsaw cut to be made at the closest excavation line to introduce an air gap between the site to be excavated and the cave”. The EIA concludes that the level of significance of the impact on the cave “would vary from insignificant to high depending on the quality of construction site management.”
215,000 cubic metres of construction waste
Construction will take five years, with close to a year for demolition and excavation, which will generate 215,000cb.m of topsoil and limestone (lower coralline and lower globigerina), that is expected to be disposed in Camilleri’s own quarry, potential re-use.
The full EIA may be found here
