DB Group’s ITS site development proposal ‘recommended for approval’
● PA Board hearing on 20 September
The case officer processing the highly controversial proposed City Centre development application on the former ITS site has recommended that the project be approved.
The Planning Board is set to hear the application and take a decision as to whether to approve or decline the proposed development on 20 September.
The development application consists of three main parts: a hotel with ancillary tourist-related amenities, a residential tall building and retail and entertainment areas. The case officer’s report reads that “the applicant was recognised as the preferred bidder to develop the site and entered into a deed of temporary emphyteusis of 99 years for the design, construction and operation of a tourism and leisure development.”
The case officer recommends the permit’s approval, but says that the executable version of this development permission should not be issued prior to the submission of a letter of commitment by either the government or the applicant with regard to the implementation of the necessary transport infrastructure. This permission would also be subject to a planning gain of €1,451,075.
The case officer’s report reads that the development proposes an overall gross floor area of 109,919 square metres set into the following main components: An 18-storey (73 metres high) hotel with an overall area of 51,417 square metres; A 38-storey (140.87 metres high) tall building with a 1,090-square-metre retail area and 32,713-square-metre residential area; A shopping mall with an 18,753-square-metre commercial area; Offices with an area of 3,232 square metres; and an entertainment areas covering 3,604 square metres.
The project proposal has been modified a number of times since its announcement. “According to a statement by the Environment Impact Assessment’s co-ordinator, the changes in the revised drawings consisted in reducing the hotel’s building envelope by 16 per cent and the number of rooms from 464 to 438. Around 4,500 square metres were reduced from the hotel’s original design as was a floor proposed as a rooftop wedding hall. “The overall height of the proposed tall building was reduced by eight metres,” the case officer’s report reads.
This development application was subject to numerous representations received from the general public, residents and local councils from the surrounding localities, MPs, architects, NGOs and third-party hotel operators. The PA had received over 4,000 objections.
A number of concerns raised by the above persons and entities include potential negative impacts to the underlying Għar Ħarq Ħamiem, an insufficient amount of open space, fragmented development as a result of lack of a comprehensive master plan for the area as well as a pending investigation on the transfer of the site covered by the application. Other arguments also include the potential detrimental visual impact, alleged misuse of the hotel height limitation adjustment policy, the traffic impact of the project, the increased pollution as a result of the project, the proximity of high rise development to residential areas, and many others.
The case officer’s report reads that the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had noted that the development as proposed will have an impact on recorded cultural heritage assets, including a military barracks currently scheduled at Grade 2 and the Ħarq Ħamiem cave, a geological feature scheduled at Level 1.
The superintendence had made a number of requests, including a survey of the cave. “During the pre-validation process, the architect submitted a heritage report and a method statement. Following the review of these documents, the superintendence did not object to the interventions proposed subject to a number of conditions.”
The Pembroke Local Council had raised its concern over the project’s impact on the nearby residences due to its massive scale, especially when considering that it is one of a number of large-scale developments being proposed without a master plan that governs the integration of such projects while safeguarding residents. The council had pointed out the project’s impact on traffic and potential damage to the surrounding roads during construction and operation.
“It is contended that any necessary infrastructure is made operational prior to the commencement of the project’s construction. Other issues raised by the council related to the dust and traffic-related pollution, noise and vibration, the implementation of an on-site batching plant and other inconveniences caused during construction and operation. While the council remains opposed in principle to the development, it calls for further mitigations through re-design and the introduction of green buffer zones, road improvements and construction management mitigation. In further communication, the council stated that if this development is granted permission, the tunnel being proposed as a mitigation measure should be extended along Triq ilProfs. Walter Ganado, ending in Triq il-Bajja ta’ San Ġorġ in the vicinity of the Corinthia Marina San Ġorġ. This is to enable traffic within the tunnel to lead towards St George’s Bay, enter the proposed car park or the car parks of other future projects, including the Villa Rosa project.”
The St Julian’s Local Council argued that the project is in breach of policy in view that tall buildings cannot be located in Pembroke and above the 25metre contour. It is also contended that the location of high buildings should be in areas where the statutory height limitation is of four floors or more and the predominant building height in Pembroke in the vicinity of the site is of two floors and not exceeding three. It also made a number of other considerations.
With regard to parking space requirements, the report states that there are more planned spaces than necessary if one makes certain considerations. The case officer reports that applying the parking standards to the floor areas for each land-use, the proposed development would require 2,056 on-site car parking spaces. “However, the Traffic Impact Assessment provides a detailed calculation for the parking requirements based on actual figures, such as in terms of employee numbers, etc. In certain instances, many of the employees will work across a number of different parts of the development (hotel staff would also work in the wellness centre, for example). Therefore, applying the standards directly to each land-use would result in double-counting of employees and subsequent requirements in some cases. Furthermore, different land uses operate at different times; therefore, the parking allocated to each land use will only be occupied during the hours of operation of that particular land use. For example, the operational hours of offices (day time) are quite different to entertainment uses (evenings), therefore there is also an element of ‘shared’ parking facilities between different land uses. In summary, the Traffic Impact Assessment indicates that 1,724 spaces are required to accommodate the proposed development and 1,840 spaces are provided through the plans.”