Mistra Heights propose 16 storeys
Developers behind a controversial high-rise development in Xemxija have increased the proposed height of the project from 11 to 16 storeys in their latest planning application.
Conservation group Din l-Art Ħelwa has criticised the move and called on the planning authority not to give its go-ahead to the building.
The 868-appartment, Mistra Heights complex had already attracted criticism from environmental groups when the planning authority approved a preliminary permit for a maximum of 11 storeys last year, depending on the road level. The project was toned down from the original plans, doing away with a proposed 19-storey tower and reducing the units by 100.
It replaces the former Mistra Village and is a joint venture between Maltese developers JPM Brothers Ltd and Al Masalleh Real Estate Ltd of Kuwait.
In the recently submitted full development application, which is the last stage before construction can start, the developers submitted plans for 16 storeys.
Din l-Art Ħelwa said the authority had already gone against the local plans when it approved 11 floors and approving 16 storeys would be exceeding all limits.
It pointed out that the policy for high-rise buildings was being revised and insisted that "absolutely no permits" for such buildings should be considered until this process was over and people had been consulted.
When the original building plans were approved, Din l-Art Ħelwa had criticised the fact that while planning rules only allowed for eight floors or a "slight departure" from this height, the authority still gave its go-ahead for 11 storeys.
That height could not be considered as a slight departure from eight floors, let alone a maximum of 16 floors as was now proposed for the full development permit, the NGO argued.
"Sixteen storeys would be double the allowed limit, and can in no way be considered a slight departure from this limit," the NGO said.
The news comes after The Sunday Times recently reported that the project was at a standstill and that the marketing team had been fired.
One of the JPM Brothers directors, Jeffrey Montebello, denied that his company was facing problems financing the project and said that the project had been stalled by planning bureaucracy since the full development permit had still not been issued, just under a year after the preliminary green light was given.
But the planning authority denied it had hampered the development, saying that the application was submitted on December 24 and the relevant fees were only paid by the developer on March 30.
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c. d'amato
May 20th 2009, 10:16
there is no proposal for 16 stories at mistra... if i am mistaken please show me proof!
laurence schembri
May 20th 2009, 08:35
Has Alan Deidun an answer to this?
Peter Aquilina
May 20th 2009, 00:01
Xemxija residents have signed and forwarded a petition by which they expressed their disapproval and objection towards the proposals for the "developement" and construction, of, what sensible citizens may call, unaesthetical ghastly monstrosoities !!
One may ask Sliema residents, (namely those whose residences are in streets adjacent to Tower Road), how they feel after having been given the "shade" by multi-storey concrete blocks which replaced the former graceful and genuine aesthetically built homes.
Were these also ....." ugly dwarf structures that look(ed) more Middle Eastern than local in appearance..........." ??!!
Are the multi-storey concrete blocks (and those still under construction) along Xemxija Hill Road aesthetically correct ??!! Is it right and fair that they stand on the waterfront as those in Sliema ?!!
Statements such as "......safeguarding Malta's look and feel....", "employing many people.....", and " ....attractive foreign investments......" are only unworthy ( old talk ) excuses by which one tries to "justify" the "need" for such concrete monstrosities that are the requiisite of greedy speculators !!
Those who do not live in Xemxija need not bother suggesting ".....investors to be supported by realistic legislation".
Rather, better bother to maintain your own locality's ( wishfully sane) environment !
Ray Sultana
May 19th 2009, 23:40
Disgusting!
Will the Prime Minister, directly responsible for so-called sustainable development, stop this madness or shall we continue handing over the country to greedy speculators who come, destroy, make lots of money and then leave?
Ray de Bono, this proposal is anything but properly designed. It defies all sense of logic and aesthetics. Tall buildings the world-over are built on flat surfaces, not on the top of hills. Think of New York, Frankfurt, La Défense close to Paris, London, they're all built on flat surfaces.
If this madness had to be approved it would forever destroy the north of Malta, ruining the views from large parts of the island.
a attard
May 19th 2009, 22:37
Cover the whole area with soil and extend the Mizieb wood which is at its back. That is what Malta TRULY needs to be stylish......
ray de Bono
May 19th 2009, 18:40
If properly designed high rise buildings are a plus to the surrounding environment. Malta has enough ugly dwarf structures that look more Middle Eastern than local in appearance, with blatant use of quarried lime stone that besides giving a boring, stale and desert look to our landscape, are anything but stylish.
In the current credit crunch, investors must be supported with realistic legislation that whilst safeguarding Malta's look and feel, also protects investors who more often than not are employing many people with them, are attractive foreign direct investments and are active corporate supporters of many social and cultural entities in Malta. Rather than demonised, respectable investors like the ones in question need support and commendation for their trust in the local economy.
As a resident of Mellieha, I cannot but say (albeit this is subjective) that I welcome the Xemxija Height development as a landmark structure that will help improve the area's skyline, and hopefully alleviate the ugliness of the close-by shabby, Gaza-like buildings overlooking Mizieb valley.
Malta needs a more contemporary & feasible way of regulating our living habitats. Having aesthetically improved structures like the ones proposed at Xemxija heights will be a step in the right direction.
c. camilleri
May 19th 2009, 16:53
By allowing these heights we are just ruining what is left of our island's natural beauty. It is just a shame that the greed of these developers is being given priority to Malta's interests.
O. Longo
May 19th 2009, 15:19
.... and here i speak from personal experience....
MEPA have rules... but one is still allowed to apply for a project that goes completely CONTRARY to these rules.... FURTHERMORE... MEPA can actually grant permission - bending the application in it's "report" to justify its decision !!!! (Yes, against its very own rule) .... then it is up to the citizen to go into the added expense of legal action to safeguard their own rights.
My primary reason for voting PN was MEPA reform.... and how sadly let down and disillusioned I am.
Oh... and while I'm at it.... may some enlightened reader kindly inform me when the rent reform bill will come into effect ?...
r ferriggi
May 19th 2009, 13:11
mmmm....... why dont we make them 20 storeys,,,, its nicer number dont you think??
Galea. L
May 19th 2009, 12:16
GONZI, MEPA SCRAP THE PROJECT.
T Briffa
May 19th 2009, 12:12
How ironic that the Mistra Village complex was levelled to make way for this controversial monstrosity and just yesterday the papers were reporting someone saying that more self-sufficient resorts were needed in Malta!
Anthony Slater
May 19th 2009, 12:09
I wonder how Jeffrey Montebello manages to sleep at night knowing full well that his project will blight the landscape of Mistra for today's and every future generation in Malta.
Come to think of it, I wonder how MEPA officials manage to sleep at night also with the amount of blinkered view damage they keep approving.
Will somebody with any ounce of grey matter, please put a stop to it.
Vincent Buttigieg
May 19th 2009, 11:58
So a few hundred meters away is the highly sensitive Mistra Valley (anybody remember the controversy of last year, prior to the elections, involving even a government MP in the process?). And now we are being told that just a few hundred meters away MEPA is going to consider and application DOUBLE THE HEIGHT ALLOWED by its own regulations. Come on!! Show some common sense please!!
O Longo
May 19th 2009, 11:45
nobody is questioning the legality of this project......
Malta is simply overdeveloped... punto e basta.
And there is surely no demand for all these apartments.
Hundreds upon hundreds of empty apartments on this island and yet... we carry on demolishing houses and rebuilding flats.
Emma Farrugia
May 19th 2009, 10:55
Din l-Art Helwa may perhaps consider to change its name into Din l-Art Mimlija Bini Ikrah!