Mistra’s 774-apartment project set to gridlock Xemxija Hill

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority is set to approve a project for 774 apartments on the former Mistra Village site, despite clear warnings by Transport Malta that the traffic situation there is already unsustainable.

In fact a case officer report recommends the approval of the project, even though the traffic situation at Xemxija Hill has not improved since 2009, when MEPA issued an outline permit for the project.

The MEPA board is expected to take a decision on this controversial project on 31 October.

The latest plans envisage six rectangular blocks to rise to a maximum of 12 floors from street level and 13 floors from the internal pedestrian level. The development will include 744 new units and a 1,800m2 retail area, which includes a supermarket.

In 2009 MEPA approved an outline permit for four boomerang blocks rising to 15 floors (992 units). The downscaling of the project is deemed to improve views from Selmun and Mistra valley but is still expected to have a dramatic impact on the landscape.

In 2009 Transport Malta warned that "any additional load, particularly by the scale of the project, would exacerbate the present traffic situation".

The development is expected to have an impact on the traffic flows on the roundabout at the top of Xemxija Hill. According to TM, the road is already straining to cope with the existing flow of traffic.

Although the reduction in the number of apartments will result in "a significant decrease in the number of trips", Transport Malta warns that "substantial delays can still be expected".

The impact assessment for the Gemxija project acknowledges that "in the absence of an alternative bypass, in order to alleviate the strain on the existing transportation route, the draconian measure would be to halt all development in Xemxija and Mellieha altogether".

But the report dismisses this environmentally friendly option as "not viable" and proposes to "speed up the provision of alternative transportation routes".

The Traffic Impact Assessment for the project recommended the re-routing of traffic through the proposed TEN-T Xemxija Bypass, for which no finalised plans or any dates for implementation exist.

One of the conditions imposed in the outline permit was the submission of plans for the safe pedestrian crossing across Xemxija Hill following the completion of the bypass project. But since plans for the project have not been finalised, the condition is being dropped by MEPA, because it is "difficult to enforce this condition, which has very long-term implications".

In fact, the Xemija Bypass would have an enormous impact on the rural environment in the north of Malta. But the approval of the project would make the construction of the new bypass even more necessary.

The new development proposed by Gemxija Limited replaces the low-rise Corinthia Mistra Village that was developed in the 1980s.

   Din l-Art Helwa is objecting to the development, insisting that no permits should be issued before approval of the policy on high-rise buildings which is currently being drafted by MEPA. The draft policy bans any high-rise development which lies on ridges.

MEPA has replied that postponing the decision until the new policy is approved would be superfluous, as it will not and cannot have any bearing on the full development applications.

"An applicant in possession of an outline development permit has vested rights, which in the past years have been safeguarded by a number of tribunal decisions which have overturned the MEPA board's decision whenever it refused planning permission on a site which was covered by an outline development permit."

The North West Local Plan limits development in the area to a maximum of eight storeys, and MEPA can only consider "slight departures" from this height if the scheme has a "noteworthy urban and architectural design". In this case, an additional four storeys over and above the local plan limit are being considered as a slight departure.

The Xemxija Bypass

The controversial Imbordin road, part of the TEN-T network, was proposed as a solution to the Xemxija bottleneck before 2008.

But amid major environmental concerns, the road was not even considered one of the transport authority's priority projects for the period 2007-2013. A favourable MEPA board decision on the 774-apartment project could force the government to speed up the process for the new road's approval.

The Imbordin road comprises a 545m tunnel that will pass under Xaghra ta' l-Ghansar. This was proposed as an alternative to the Manikata road network, which was shot down in 2006 after protests from farmers in the area.

Former roads minister Jesmond Mugliett described the new bypass as "a very tricky issue", acknowledging that the alternative route posed a risk to the Mizieb aquifer, protected by European laws but already endangered by the illegal extraction of water.

The new road network would surely alleviate the traffic choking Xemxija Hill, the main artery linking Malta to Mellieha and Gozo, which takes 23,000 cars every day.

But the tunnel treads on the easternmost edge of a drinking water protection zone, covered by EU legislation.

The proposed road will partly utilise an already established route starting from Triq Ghajn Tuffieha to Xemxija road, to Mizieb across the Pwales Valley and close to the agricultural areas of Ta' Gannaru and l-Imbordin. It then connects to the 545m tunnel under the Xaghra ta' l-Ghansar ridge, and a small flyover bridge up to the existing Mellieha road.

But the new project raises concerns about the ecological impact on a scheduled area which serves as a buffer zone to the Simar reserve. In the past years, MEPA has scheduled the Simar area, which includes parts of Pwales, Simar, l-Imbordin, Ta' Gannaru, ix-Xaghra ta' l-Ghansar and Ta' Rkuplu.