Debunking an official statement on Fort Cambridge

In reply to a press statement by the Department of Information (dated July 2), Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) would like to point out that the claim that Mepa considered all the relevant factors listed in annex III of the EU Directive is hardly valid since the Maltese government had not transposed annex III into Maltese legislation at the time.

Annexe III, which lists the criteria for determining the significance of environmental impacts, was only transposed into Maltese legislation on April 20, 2007 which, therefore, postdates the Mepa board decision on Fort Cambridge taken on March 8, 2007. One, therefore, assumes that the decision to waive the EIA was taken on the basis of arbitrary criteria.

FAA fails to understand how Mepa can state that an EIA was not necessary on the grounds that no significant negative impacts were identified once their own Legal Notice 151 of 2007 identified the following issues as ranging in severity from minor to major: noise, air quality, waste (re. inert and demolition waste) and visual impact. We have furthermore identified traffic and shadowing as other major impacts. Once the authorities have, by their own admittance, recognised that there are issues of major impact, an EIA had to take place.

It is to be noted that case law dealing with European directives indicates that a broad view must be taken with each application and, in case of doubt, an EIA must always be carried out.

FAA also question how "all new environmental impacts had been identified in the detailed project description statement" since the wind study as well as the visual impacts study had not been prepared. Similarly, the traffic management plan was still not finalised two days before the Mepa board decision, therefore the all-important traffic impact statement could not have been submitted and studied. It is logical that all environment studies must be completed and scrutinised before a legally-binding permit is issued. On this subject case law states: "Environment impacts must be assessed at the first possible opportunity". This was established in the UK Delena Wells case no. C-201/02 brought before the European Court of Justice, which reiterated that "An EIA should be taken as early as possible to assess any possible impacts on the environment". This is also confirmed in the more recent Crystal Palace case.

As for the claim that "The characteristics and sensitivities of the area had already been established through environmental impact assessments carried out for the larger construction projects in the immediate vicinity of the former Crowne Plaza Hotel site, such as for the MIDI project at Tignè Point" it is pertinent to point out that at the time that the MIDI project EIA was prepared, neither the Fort Cambridge nor the Townsquare projects had been outlined and, therefore, they were not taken into account.

It is precisely the cumulative effect of all these new major projects within the narrow confines of the Tignè Peninsula that are cause for concern. It is to be noted that, according to the EU directive, cumulative effects can dictate the commissioning of an EIA even in cases "which normally do not require an assessment of environmental impacts but, due to cumulation with other projects, can produce significant environmental or social effects" let alone in a development of the scale of Fort Cambridge.

The change in use from a hotel project to a residential one, contrary to the terms of the government tender, is also misleading and should have necessitated a fresh processing of the application.

We would further submit that the "information supplied by the applicant" has already been proven to be flawed on the issue of visual impact. FAA and the Qui-Si-Sana Residents Association have also challenged the reliability and impartiality of other information supplied by the developer.

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar therefore maintains that the issuing of the Fort Cambridge outline permit violates the EU EIA Directive.

An EIA should immediately be commissioned and processing of the final permit suspended until this is completed.

Ms Vella is FAA coordinator.