Villa Rosa developers reject MHRA claims that towers will shadow St George's bay

Garnet Investments, owners of the Villa Rosa site have strongly rejected claims by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association that their project will shadow St George’s Bay throughout the year.

In a statement, the company said that as per the report of the Environmental Impact Assessment, St George’s Bay will only begin seeing shadows after 4pm during summer, and the shadow would move every hour.

During winter, the shadows created by the towers, are in line with the shadows that are already present on the bay due to developments built decades ago.

“The developers are surprised by the reaction of MHRA since the project will strongly contribute to Malta’s touristic product,” said the company.

Earlier in the day, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) said that the residential tower block at the Villa Rosa estate would have a very high impact of shadowing on the iconic St George’s Bay beach throughout the year, leaving it much of the time of the day in the shadow. 

Garnet Investments said that the touristic project, which includes a public piazza of almost 11,000 sqm that will be privately maintained, has an interest in the beach being protected, untouched and fully enjoyable.

“The public pjazza will benefit all the touristic businesses in the area and will contribute to the government’s priority of increasing open spaces around Malta.”

The developers urged the MHRA to ensure that St George’s Bay remains accessible for all, and not in any way occupied or taken over by third parties, even if those third parties form part of the MHRA council.