Mepa takes holistic view of Pender project

The fourth and final phase of Pender project to build an underground car park and office space at Mercury House was approved by the planning authority, yesterday

The project, recommended for approval, also includes the transfer of floor space from Pender Place to Mercury House and its restoration. All board members of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority voted in favour, except for deputy chairman Franco Montesin.

The hearing that lasted about four hours mainly revolved around two lengthy and detailed presentations by Pender Ville and telecommunications company Go, which owns a square block of land in the middle of the St Julians property.

Go objected to a wall that would be built around its telephone exchange, saying the project went against a 2005 development brief for the area, which earmarked the place as a “major public piazza”. Instead, the full development permit for Mercury House, where the Go exchange was situated, would engulf it with a walled structure and turn it into a complex of commercial outlets reaching more than four storeys.

But Massimo Vella, Pender Ville’s legal representative, pointed out that the company was in line with the development brief that clearly stated that the exchange had to be screened with boundaries. Before calling a vote, Mepa chairman Austin Walker reminded both companies that the planning authority had to take a holistic view of the situation, which was something they failed to do.

“You based your presentations solely on the screening of the exchange and disregarded whether the project should be accepted or not… If the board’s vision is limited to that, then it will be grossly mistaken,” he said.

When a vote was taken, the project was approved overwhelmingly.