Developers want infrastructure and traffic improvements before Paceville building spree

While welcoming the Paceville master plan, the Malta Developers Association (MDA) said that before individual developments are given the go ahead by the Planning Authority (PA), “priority should be given to the improvement of the infrastructure and the implementation of traffic proposals.”

If these plans fall behind and the particular projects are built at a fast rate, the existing problems will increase rather than decrease, MDA chief Sandro Chetcuti said.

Noting that the master plan is the first of its kind, the MDA welcomed the engagement of international known experts to draw up this plan as a positive step that needs to be repeated for other areas as well.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the developers’ lobby said that while the master plan – foreseeing an increase in the built up area by some 500,000 metres squared -  has been carried out in a professional manner, it called on the PA to give great attention to its interpretation and implementation.

“The plan is very ambitious and therefore needs all the stakeholders concerned to work together so that it will be implemented properly,” Chetcuti said.

He added that the MDA feels that the plan fails to address the possibility of new projects that could involve existing buildings and concentrated too much on nine particular sites.

“Normally when there is such intense activity in such an area, many owners of existing properties are encouraged to renovate or rebuild their properties – a real possibility that is completely ignored in the Master Plan.”

The MDA also called for a plan to integrate renewable energy in new projects.

In relation to the proposed land reclamation at Portomaso in St Julian’s, the MDA said that reclaimed land “should not be used to build apartments and residences but for a tourism-related project on a national level.”