Pembroke council sticks to its guns, says new DB project fails to address its main concerns

The Labour-led Pembroke Local Council has reiterated its objection to the DB project as it fails to address the council’s main concern, that the project is still out of scale with the nearby residential area.

“The main objection of the council that a development of such density is not suited in such close proximity to residential homes stands…with the changes made to the project falling short of the council’s expectations,” Pembroke mayor Dean Hili wrote in his submission to the Planning Authority following the latest changes made to the project by the DB Group in what he described as the “final” objection.

New plans envisage two 17-storey blocks instead of a single 31-storey residential tower and reduce the height of the hotel from 17 to 12 storey. 

The change comes in the face of strong opposition from NGOs spearheaded by Moviment Graffitti, the Pembroke local council and over 5,800 objections.

In its submission the council welcomed several “substantial changes” made by the developer, recognising that these were made following several meetings between the council and the developers. These changes included the removal of a proposed casino and a proposed wedding hall. It also welcomed the decision not to excavate under the scheduled part of the ITS building and in the vicinity of the Ghar Harq Hammiem cave. It also welcomed the more terraced approach to the development proposed between the residential area and the project.

Despite the changes made to the project, more than 1,734 objections have been submitted in the past days.

The DB group was the sole bidder in a request for proposals for the ITS site in a process undertaken by Project Malta when Konrad Mizzi was still Minister.

In a report penned last year, the Auditor General cast doubts on the “regularity” of the tender issued by Projects Malta, which had failed to obtain authorisation from the Contracts Department.

The law courts revoked a permit for the project issued in 2018 after a Planning Authority board member involved in the real estate business was revealed to have a conflict of interest when voting for the project.

Subsequently, new plans were submitted, reducing the height of the tower to 31 storeys. But these were not enough to placate opposition to the project leading the developers to further downscale the project in plans submitted in December.