Db project decision now due in three weeks

The Planning Authority’s decision on a proposed extension to the db project has been postponed to Thursday 6 November, following yesterday’s suspension of the public hearing.

The decision will now come a few days after a protest by NGOs, scheduled on budget day (27 October), against the proposed overhaul of planning laws.

The official reason given by the Planning Authority for the postponement was to ensure that eNGOs are represented on the board in the “sensitive” decisions that were due yesterday.

The justification is unprecedented, as the PA board has often taken decisions in the absence of the eNGO representative, who by law cannot be substituted when indisposed.

When suspending the session, board chairman Emmanuel Camilleri justified the decision by saying that Romano Cassar could not attend as he was abroad, and that his appointment as the new NGO representative has not yet been published in the Government Gazette.

But the postponement also follows a change of heart by the Labour-led Pembroke local council, which has announced its intention to vote against the development.

This shift comes after the council initially agreed to db’s proposal for the company to fund a civic centre in the locality — a decision that angered residents. At a heated council meeting last summer, residents accused local councillors of bowing to pressure by not objecting to the application.

READ ALSO | Pembroke residents choke under db Group’s rising towers

The council had opposed all previous two applications presented by the db Group, although these were still approved.  It is unclear whether the council’s u-turn reflects a change of heart by the government.  But mayor Kaylon Zammit has insisted that the council decision to vote against is motivated by “respect for the residents' wishes.”

The latest application proposes 82 additional apartments at the mega-development, increasing the height of two towers from 17 and 18 storeys to 23 and 25 storeys, respectively. The Planning Authority’s directorate is recommending the application for approval.

Another planning decision, involving the sanctioning of unauthorised garages in a highly sensitive archaeological area near the Tal-Qaċċa Burial Cavities and the Xagħra Circle in Gozo, has been postponed to 20 November.

Meanwhile, while the PA has delayed decisions on these two applications, the same board had no difficulty rejecting an application by Marco Gaffarena to build 14 warehouses on ODZ land in Kirkop on the same day.