I refer to the letter by Carmel Portelli (December 12). Contrary to his understanding, there has been no increase in the approved, or constructed, volume for the Tigné south part of the Tignè project, now nearing completion.

The approved project in fact has some significant, positive, deviations from the original development brief. For example, there is no high- rise development within the ditch of Fort Tigné, as was originally envisaged in the Mepa development brief. The current scheme also differs in some significant ways, once again positively, from that approved at outline permit stage. For example, the Garden Battery, covering an area of 3,000 square metres, is being preserved, contrary to what was envisaged at outline permit stage.

A commercial building, of 8,000 square metres gross area, has been removed from the central square, to enlarge the main square to an area of more than 6,500 square metres, with the commercial activities shifted to below ground. But the scheme under construction, visible across Marsamxett Harbour, is, in fact, that approved at outline development permit stage but providing for a structure that is more environmentally sensible - the front screens provide shading for glazing in the south-facing apartments.

Comments have recently been reported in the media on the density of, and the lack of trees in, this development. The public is invited to wait for the scheme to be completed before passing judgement. Malta is a small country, densely populated, and with a diminishing open countryside. It is inevitable that the planning solution lies in redevelopment and increasing the density of our urban areas.

The discussion is, of course, a very complex one. The urban density model in Tigné Point has actually been Valletta, with the minimum widths of the radial streets echoing those of the transverse streets in our capital city - the big difference, of course, is that these streets will never be inhabited by cars, but will remain landscaped pedestrian routes, with vehicular access underneath. It should not be expected that trees and landscaped areas would be very visible from across the sea, even when they are mature.

In the Mediterranean tradition, the green areas are located in the heart of the urban system, protected from the scorching winds and relentless sun. The building section, in Tigné south, has been devised to allow the sun to penetrate into these green landscaped areas in winter, and yet to be screened out during peak summer hours.

The interior of Tigné Point Development will effectively include a series of landscaped areas, from the planted terraces cascading down four storeys, to the sunken gardens between apartment blocks, to the tree-lined main pjazza, and out to the green glacis around Fort Tigné, coming down to the sea. A senior Mepa official was recently reported as decrying the fact that the current development hides the views of Fort Tigné, that were previously available from Msida. How nostalgia colours our perceptions! Fort Tigné was originally designed to be sunken into the ground, and to be invisible from all around, except for the tower. Before the Tigné Point Development Project commenced, the south-facing edge of Fort Tigné was hidden behind a barracks block, built by the British on the glacis of the fort, blocking all possible views of the fort from Msida.

This block has now been demolished, and any development in this location has been shifted to below ground, in order to allow the reinstatement of the glacis. Similarly, the glacis to the north, and especially the north-west, will be clear of buildings (not as envisaged in the Mepa development brief or in the outline permit), and the original glacis will be reinstated. Views of Fort Tignè will, if anything, be much better than before.

As far as concerns Manoel Island, it has to be clarified that the approved outline permit does not include two-storey dwellings, but a low-rise development, containing a mix of apartments, duplexes and maisonettes, between four and five storeys high. This remains the current intention; the scheme also includes all the features mentioned in the letter, such as public (heritage?) squares, a community football pitch, a sports club, a public quay, a casino in the Lazzaretto, a large park surrounding Fort Manoel, and more. The approved, above-ground, site coverage at outline permit stage is actually less than 20 per cent of the island area and, if any changes are proposed, the trend will be to reduce coverage further.

It is normal that every major urban intervention changes one's perceptions of the urban environment, and time makes us forget what it was that one has replaced. (Does anybody remember the squalor and abandon of Fort Tigné, and the surrounding barracks in Tigné Point?). And it is very rare that these perceptions are immediately positive, since change is always difficult to absorb.

Gustav Eiffel's tower in Paris was lampooned for a long time by the media for being a giant lamp-post! Facile characterisations, such as have been used on a couple of occasions in the recent press, are rife - however, time will tell whether the design thought that has gone into the project (and not just "an exercise of fitting the maximum number of units") will result in the Tigné Point Project being a top quality urban space, as we envisage it to be. In the meantime, let us at least stick to the facts.