Villa Rosa Owners Pledge To Reduce Height From 34-Storey Application In Local Plans Review
The developers of the highly controversial Villa Rosa project have pledged to reduce the height in the application which currently seeks to develop a 34-storey tower and two 27-storey ones overlooking St George’s Bay.
They intend to do this through a review of the St George’s Bay local plans which was approved by cabinet last week – a decision that received fierce criticism across the islands.
The owners – Anton Camilleri’s Garnet Investments – explained that they “fully support the public discussion initiated by the Planning Authority to update the local plan for the area”, describing it as an important step towards “balancing the development plans with the needs of the community”.
Among the promises made in a statement issued earlier today, the owners said they’ll establish the building heights to ensure that no future applications will include additional floors, retain the gross floor area within what is allowable for the Villa Rosa area under current policies, create a new public open space, and withdraw any development in the currently approved permit to protect environmentally sensitive areas. They will also commit to “rehabilitating and safeguarding these areas” and plant indigenous trees within the project.
The project will further introduce an internal road to eliminate loading and unloading traffic through St George’s Bay, provide sufficient parking for the project, and incest in the “necessary infrastructure to avoid placing additional strain on the existing systems.”
Concerns were raised last week when a proposal to review the local plans of the area was approved – activists across the islands accused both the Labour (PL) and Nationalist (PN) parties for allowing the developers’ lobby to persuade political decisions at the detriment of the public and environment.
Former PL MEP Cyrus Engerer reiterated his call for a change in the party financing laws while activist organisation Moviment Graffitti announced a protest. NGO Il-Kollettiv went a step further and called for Lands Minister Silvio Schembri to be investigated for the price this piece of land – as well as the one of the Villa Heights development – was sold.
Hundreds of citizens were worried that the local plans review would allow for the multiplication of the project since Camilleri currently has pending plans to increase it dramatically.
His initial application was approved in 2018 but his current one is awaiting a final decision and it intends to develop a 34-storey tower and two 27-storey ones overlooking St George’s Bay.
Last year, an Environmental Impact Assessment concluded that this mega-development would majorly impact the environment and air quality.
Do you think these pledges are sufficient?
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