The Planning Authority is being inundated with objections, particularly from Pembroke and Swieqi residents, to the grant of a development permit for a mega project on the site currently occupied by the ITS in St George’s Bay, the Times of Malta is informed.
Sources at the PA said that more than a thousand objections had already been filed and many more were expected before the closing date for submissions later this month.
“We imagined that this controversial project would be vehemently opposed. However, we never expected such a negative response. We are overwhelmed,” a senior PA official admitted.
Residents of Pembroke and Swieqi are organising themselves in groups to oppose the multimillion-euro project, which they claim “will bury us alive”.
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The objections to the PA were made on grounds including the lack of a master plan for the area, the proximity of the development to existing residences, permanent shadows, environmental hazards and the “monstrous nature of the whole development”.
Objectors are also complaining that the development proposal by the db Group, owned by the Seabank Hotel entrepreneur Silvio Debono, infringes upon various planning policies.
They want to bury us alive
“The project, if allowed, will significantly change the character of Pembroke and Swieqi by further diluting the boundaries between the two localities and Paceville, and exacerbate the simmering social conflict between the localities,” one objector said.
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“The project cannot be approved: there is no master plan in place for this highly sensitive area and it is impossible to understand the real impact of such a massive project and whether it makes any sense from a planning perspective,” another said.
Claiming that the project will “negatively affect the quality of life of thousands of residents”, some objectors are claiming that its proximity to the residential area in Pembroke “renders it particularly intrusive on the daily life of the residents to an unacceptable degree”.
“The development is a classic case of bad neighbourliness that should, therefore, not be approved,” another objector said.
In a project mired in controversy since its inception, the db Group applied for a planning permit to turn the area into a five-star, 14-storey hotel with an adjacent 37-storey residential tower, which the group is estimating to sell to high-net-worth individuals for at least €120 million.
The db Group acquired the 24,000 square metre plot of prime public land last year following a deal it had struck with the government negotiated by Tour-ism Minister Konrad Mizzi.
The Malta Developers Association harshly criticised the government over the db Group deal, stating that the public land, known as the golden mile for its potential and value, had been given away well under current real estate prices.
While Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the public that the db Group would be paying €60 million for the land, it later resulted that the group would pay €15 million only, with the sum staggered over seven years.
The government also exempted the group from paying €1.5 million in ground rent until the project was completed.
According to a draft Paceville master plan commissioned by the government, the ITS area has a value of over €200 million.
The db Group is planning to start demolishing the area as soon as the permit is granted.
The PA is earmarking mid-August – the peak of the summer season – to issue the permit.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com