Updated 8pm
The Planning Authority has denied claims by environmental and conservationist groups that it failed to make important studies related to the db Group City Centre project in St George's Bay accessible to the public.
The authority said the 'missing' studies highlighted by NGOs on Friday had not yet been updated and concluded to reflect new downscaled plans presented by the developers of the controversial project.
It insisted that the studies would all be made public at a later stage in the application process.
In a joint statement on Saturday, NGOs including Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Moviment Graffitti said the PA had not released photomontages, notes on the traffic impact statement, the social impact assessment statement and shadowing studies for the controversial project.
The documents in question are referred to elsewhere in the planning process for the planned 31-storey tower and 17-storey hotel on the former Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) site. However, they are not available on the PA's public server.
The period during which the public can submit objections to the project ends next week.
"This seriously impedes the right of the public to view all available information at an early stage so as to be able to scrutinise it fully. It is another shameful indictment of the Planning Authority's lack of transparency," the organisations said on Saturday.
"The Planning Authority should make these documents public at once and extend the time frame for people to make representations. This application has been dogged with 'mistakes' which are always made at the public's expense."
The Bicycle Advocacy Group, BirdLife Malta, Friends of the Earth Malta, Nature Trust Malta and the Archaeological Society of Malta also signed the statement.
The €250 million City Centre project has been dogged with controversy since its inception.
The development itself, which includes a residential tower, hotel and shopping complex, was approved by the PA in September 2018 but the permit was later revoked over a conflict of interest concerning one of the planning board members.
New downscaled plans have since been presented, but continue to face widespread opposition by NGOs, local councils and residents' groups who argue that the project's excessive scale will engulf the surrounding areas and damage the natural environment.