Mistra aftermath: ‘No winners at Xemxija’ – Din l-Art Helwa
MEPA and Transport Malta set precedent for tall buildings to be built on hills and ridges.
1 November 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
3 min read
MEPA chairman Vince Cassar at the Mistra hearing (Photo Audrey Lienard/Mediatoday)
"Only Malta loses on Xemxija Ridge irrespective of the short-term gain for the economy," Din l-Art Helwa's executive president Simone Mizzi said today of Thursday's decision by the MEPA board to approve a full development permit for the redevelopment of the former Mistra Village Holiday complex.
The area, owned by Kuwaiti firm Gemxija Holdings, is set to be developed into a vast urban metropolis after nine MEPA board members voted in favour of the 744-apartment project while five members voted for it to be modified to a more appropriate scheme.
"Din l-Art Helwa maintained that the outline permit granted in 2008 followed misleading and incomplete information to the former MEPA board and demanded the revocation of this permit, citing Article 77 of the Environment and Planning Act," Mizzi said.
But the request for revocation of the outline permit by the NGO was thrown out by chairman Vincent Cassar, who said the board had found the request legally unjustified.
"The chairman said he did not have to make public the considerations that led to this decision. It is very concerning that the efforts to protect Malta's environment, in this case a sizeable chunk of important scenic landscape, should be left to NGOs when the real responsibility of championing the environment should be that of MEPA itself," Mizzi said.
"I am comforted by the fact that there were five members of the MEPA board who wished to see the project modified so its effect on the landscape would be mitigated or who insisted that local regulations governing the permit would be observed."
Mizzi said the MEPA board based its decision on its Floor Area Ratio, an as-yet unapproved high rise policy that calls for a maximum of eight floors to be allowed, when this permit was in fact granted for 12.
"That's hardly a small departure from the Local Plan which in essence allows four floors," Mizzi said, adding that the policy obliges MEPA to ensure that the resulting building is 'of a high-calibre quality building'.
"What we saw projected were multiple repetitions of boxes accented in red, blue and green that were still massed in a most unnatural adjacency to the surrounding landscape," Mizzi said.
NGOs were yesterday up in arms over the complete reversal of the Traffic Impact Statement made by Transport Malta's CEO James Piscopo, described in his letter of August 2013 to the board as having no objection to the project on Xemxija Ridge.
This is a complete departure from the comments made previously in 2008 by Transport Malta's experts who had stated that any additional traffic would impact most seriously on the single-lane traffic between St Paul's Bay and Mellieha, itself the main thoroughfare to Gozo.
"The justification given in the report to the MEPA board was that with the number of flats had been reduced from 994 to 744 the impact on traffic was no longer objectionable. This conclusion was absurd and totally unacceptable," Mizzi said.
"The precedent for tall buildings to be built on hills and ridges has been set. Malta does not have much in the way left of unspoilt landscapes and open countryside."
Mizzi said she was however happy to hear the Kuwaiti developers say that they would consider improving this design yet again. "We hope they will make it kinder to the eye and more in keeping with the natural contours of the land. We trust they will be true to their word."
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1.Guzep huwa zgur li m'ghadiex bzonn il vot tieghek f'lezzojoni li gejja. ghax tkaxkira li PN ohra ghandu li gejja!
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TM CEO James Piscopo Mepa Chairman Perit Vince Cassar + 8 other Board members, you can explain to your grand children that you decisions have helped to further deplete their environment and their quality of life. You have done this without any consideration to the public and the taxpayers from whom you derive your salary. Shame on you all
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@Guzep. Totally agree. The MLP might as well put up Malta for sale on eBay. Anything for a bit of cash. Unfortunately NOT voting for them in the next elections (which I most definitely WON'T be doing) isn't going to undo the damage.
Joseph MELI •
I think you will find that the developers will provide you with a good argument in that there are "no winners at Xemxija" claim .However, there are many losers and remember that greed is the one snake that no one can charm!
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Peress li jien ivvuttajt labour nixtieq insaqsi lil Prim Ministru il ghala lil uliedna qeghdin neqirdulom il ftit spazju li baqa fuq din il bicca blata..Sur Prim Ministru hares ftit lejn dawk z zewg angli li ghandek u ghidilhom li ser terga tmexxi lura id decizzjoni li hadet il mepa rigward il Mistra.Ghidlihom basta ghal zvilup ta dik x xorta
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@elwenzu
The rape of Malta continues---. Mepa prostitutes itself for "Kuwaiti cash".
It seems like Malta is prostituting itself for any cash. It is even willing to sell our identity and livelihood to anybody that can come up with 650,000 thousand euros. Malta belongs to the PL and not to the Maltese anymore. It is a disgrace that a government has the power to sell our children's nationality for thirty pieces of silver. If and when one sells their nationality, their pride and their livelihood for thirty pieces of silver they have nothing left.
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"The chairman said he did not have to make public the considerations that led to this decision." Here we go again an arrogant answer given by a public figure who is getting paid by the Tax Payer. Mepa is a government agency paid for by the Tax payer and the chairman says it is none of the public's business how they do business? So who has the bigger investment so far the Kuwaitis or the Chinese? These people invested without the need to buy our nationality and that is good. As far as the project goes, it is not harming the environment because they are replacing something that was already there. It is the open, vacant spaces that we have to watch for. At least these investors are paying good money for the public land, not like the squatters that took over the public land such as the Armier Village people.
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Barons 1 - Malta 0
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The environment in Malta will always come last. We put money before anything else it's a disgrace!
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Miss Mizzi said she was however happy to hear the Kuwaiti developers say that they would consider improving this design yet again. "We hope they will make it kinder to the eye and more in keeping with the natural contours of the land. We trust they will be true to their word." Let's hope THEY WILL...
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The rape of Malta continues---.
Mepa prostitutes itself for "Kuwaiti cash".
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Blast GonziPN and its all-the-way-laughing-to-the-bank cronies for awarding an outline development permit in this area, which forced this final sign off, unless huge damages would have been incurred by MEPA. Where are the usual nasty, vicious, venomous, PN frenzied b(l)oggers? Why aren't they taking it out on the Nationalist party for being so damn irresponsible. Oh, I see this land was 50% owned by one of their Minister's friends. Not much help really as now bankrupt. However, I ask why this Government did not acquire this area for a public purpose, as GonziPN did with the Fekruna promontory (where GonziPN paid €5.5 MILLIONS of Maltese taxpayers money less than 14 days from last general elections to a Mellieha family).
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The ruining of the maltese islands continues unabated! It is completely unfair for greedy capitalists to continue building on the scarce land that is left, when there are so many derelict and vacant buildings. In the case of the xemxija ridge such a enormous project does not impress us at all. It would have been more acceptable for a down scaled project with less height and apartments to have been approved. It seems that MEPA has no sense of aesthetical construction at all where things should blend in harmoniously with the environment!
