PA indicates it will refuse AUM extension

The Planning Authority Board has indicated that it will refuse a controversial application to expand the American University of Malta (AUM) campus in Cospicua, overturning the case officer’s recommendation .

The reasons for refusal were namely cited as being the loss of open space due to a proposed office block, which will be built over a recently inaugurated open staircase, and the effect that a new wing to the Knights’ Building will have on views of the Senglea fortifications, with photomontages indicating that the new wing would cover the view of St Michael’s Gate as seen from Cospicua.

Since the application’s case officer had initially recommended that permission be granted, the PA board will have to meet again to ratify its refusal, although it can change its decision and approve the project if it feels that the applicant has addressed the reasons for the refusal.

PA Board chairman Vince Cassar led objections to the application, noting that he was not convinced of the office block’s design, and could not approve

the extension to the Knights’ Building due to how it covers the Senglea bastions.

ERA chairman Victor Axiak was also against the application, addressing tell the members of the AUM present that “this is like grafting a tissue onto an already existing body; the graft will only be successful if the community is ready to accept it. If the community doesn’t welcome it and is not happy, there will be a tissue rejection.”

The government’s Clayton Bartolo also cited concerns about how the bastions – which are set to be renovated at a cost of €2.9 million – will be covered, while the PN’s Marthese Portelli expressed her concern over the loss of open space, noting that as soon as a structure is built on an open space, it ceases to remain open.

Cospicua Mayor Alison Zerafa Civelli, meanwhile, also expressed her concerns about the project and declared that she would be voting against it.

Members of NGOs and the public made their presence known at the meeting, with a number of interventions – all against the project.

Rebecca Cremona, representing a coalition of NGOs, noted that 1,937 signatures had been gathered as part of a petition against the project, while environmentalist Claire Bonello questioned the legality of excluding the decision on a proposed dormitory during the sitting.

Architect Tara Cassar said it was ‘ridiculous’ to have 500 fewer parking spaces than the required amount, as was being proposed ‘purely on assumption’, a sentiment reiterated by Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar’s Jorg Sicot.

The deputy mayor of Senglea, Anthony Bonavia, said that the project would continue to suffocate Senglea, while various residents – including former Labour Cospicua councillor John Vella – also expressed their disagreement with the project.

The solitary intervention in favour of the project came from Louis Walker – the AUM’s own president.

He read a prepared speech and spoke of his belief that a strong and successful university at Dock 1 would provide enormous benefit to the community, and noted that if too much focus was given to the short run, future gains could be destroyed. He said that the university needed more classrooms, laboratories and recreational spaces, and said that it would continue to emphasise its own social responsibility to the residents of the Cottonera area and enhancing its economy.

That Walker’s intervention was the only one not to be followed by an applause was a good indicator of the sentiment of those present.

With the votes against seemingly piling up, the applicant asked for the project to be deferred by a month so that they could address the concerns brought up, but this was rebuked by Cassar who said that by law a vote had to be taken.

The AUM had planned to extend its campus into a derelict building which known as the Knights’ Building on the old dock front, turning it into an educational institution by making internal alterations and constructing an additional floor in steel and glass over and above the building’s current height.

The Knights’ Building would have held facilities such as a bookshop, exhibition spaces, 11 laboratories, two common rooms, two seminar rooms, and 33 classrooms, among other facilities spread across seven floors.

A new wing for the Knights’ Building was also part of the plans, while an administrative building was slated for an open space adjacent to the Knights’ Building, with plans showing that it would have the same height as the Knights’ Building. That open space was only recently inaugurated, having been revamped through EU funds to provide better accessibility between upper Cospicua and the Dock 1 area, and the proposal entailed the uprooting of two trees. The applicants claimed, however, that the existing concrete stairway would be retained.

The site is located within an Urban Conservation Area and is subject to the Cottonera Development Brief, while the former submarine workshop, galley stores, and the sail loft of Dock 1 are also proposed to be scheduled.

The case officer’s report notes that the whole site is located in an Area of High Landscape Value due to the harbour fortifications. Photomontages show that the new building near the Knights’ Building would obstruct views of the historical Senglea fortifications.

A four-storey student accommodation block with an underground car park was also slated for a car park above Dock 1, which leads up to Senglea Gate, as part of this application, but this was taken off the table last August with the Planning Authority instructing the applicant’s to go back to the drawing board and return with a new application within six months. The proposed car park was considered part of this application.

Even though the dormitory itself was not decided on yesterday, various new designs were shared by Mintoff, who said that all the options were of significantly lower volume and had less of a visual impact on the area. Project architect Edwin Mintoff presented various iterations and designs during the meeting, some of which were based on the building which stood in the area prior to World War II, although these were greeted with disdain by the public.

The decision on the dormitory will depend on another application which has to be filed separately.