HSBC not excluding new Mriehel tower

HSBC Bank Malta is in discussions with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the creation of a “new centre” in Mriehel. 

When asked whether MEPA has received any proposal for a high-rise development by HSBC, a spokesperson for the authority confirmed that an “initial meeting” has already been held to discuss the “creation of a new centre in Mriehel”.

A spokesperson for the bank neither confirmed nor excluded that the bank was interested in high-rise development. 

The HSBC Bank Malta spokesperson confirmed that the bank “made initial queries with the relevant authorities regarding the plans being proposed for the redevelopment and upgrade of the Mriehel industrial area, given the fact that the bank’s operations centre is located within the boundaries of this area, so as to enable the bank to assess its position and options.”

HSBC already owns a centre on the Mriehel bypass. MaltaToday is informed that one of the options being considered is that of a high-rise tower, given that planning policies were changed in 2014 to allow high-rise buildings in the area.

MEPA is already considering two other high-rise developments there: a centre aimed at offering offices for the financial services sector, consisting of four towers ranging in height between 15 and 19 storeys, is being proposed by the Tumas and Gasan groups.

Another 13-storey tower is also being proposed by Albert Sant, one of the owners of the JB Stores retail outlet.

MEPA is also considering the Farsons Business Park, which will include seven low-rise office blocks intersected by courtyards and connected to a multi-level car park for 700 cars.

In a new policy regulating building heights, Mriehel was included as one of the zones where buildings of over 10 storeys could be located. No public consultation was held on this change to the original plan issued in 2013, which made no mention of Mriehel. This meant that the public, NGOs and stakeholders had no chance to comment on the choice of Mriehel as a site for high-rise office buildings, despite its sensitive location on the line of vision on high ground between Valletta and the historic old capital, Mdina.

Cumulative impacts

Moreover despite the expected impact of these projects on traffic and infrastructure, MEPA has no plans to issue a development brief for the area to consider the joint cumulative impacts of all these projects.

Asked what steps were being taken to ensure that traffic and air quality impacts of each project are not assessed in isolation but holistically, a spokesperson for MEPA replied that “the cumulative impacts of projects are assessed in the EIA process” of each individual proposal. This was the same planning procedure used to assess developments in Tigné in Sliema.

So far the only EIA which has been published is that for the four towers proposed by the Gasan and Tumas groups. The EIA does not refer to the traffic, air quality and visual impacts of other projects which are at a less advanced stage.

When dealing with cumulative impacts the EIA states that “there are no known planned major developments in the immediate area of the site” except for a number of small-scale developments in the vicinity where construction has not yet been started”.

The EIS for the Mriehel towers considers the impact on air quality of an extra 2,724 cars passing along Triq l-Imdina (east and west) and Triq il-Merghat, as “negligible”.

But the impact could be far greater if the holistic impact of a number of planned projects is considered. Moreover the visual impact on views from Mdina is also considered negligible, but this could also change if more high rise buildings are allowed in Mriehel.

The impact of the increase in traffic on the road network has been assessed in a Traffic Impact Assessment. Although completed the TIS is still being assessed by the Planning Directorate and will be made available to the public once this is concluded, a spokesperson for MEPA told MaltaToday. 

In the Budget the government had announced that it would be formulating a master-plan for the Mriehel area to transform it into a business hub.