Four years have passed since db Group first submitted plans for a residential tower and hotel on the former ITS site in Pembroke. Looking back, we, as residents of Pembroke, find it hard not to feel that a whole lot of public indignation has fallen on deaf ears.

In the intervening years, some points might have slipped our minds. The pandemic has focused our attention on the countryside, where tensions are heightening over land use and ownership. Egregious projects turn up every day and it is hard to remain up to date with each case. We are suffering from objection fatigue.

This is why it is important that, days before db’s latest plans are slated to be green-lighted by the Planning Authority, we remember why ‘City-Centre’ is such a problematic project and ask how, if at all, it has changed since it was first proposed.

In September 2018, db’s proposal for a 38-storey tower and a 17-storey hotel, located on the former ITS site in Pembroke, was approved with 10 votes in favour and four against. Seventeen entities, including the local councils of Pembroke, Swieqi and St Julian’s, appealed the decision. They expressed concerns over the disproportionate height of the towers, particularly for the 1,000 or so people living in the council flats across the road.

But it was about much more than just access to sunlight. There were also concerns about the impact of the project on the area’s infrastructure, including traffic, inconveniences during the construction period and the subsequent extension of the noise, activity, gentrification and disruption of Paceville into Pembroke.

The area around the now demolished ITS building was a space to be enjoyed on foot, a peaceful link between bustling St George’s Bay, Ħarq Ħamiem Valley and the Natura 2000 site in Pembroke, frequented by residents and non-residents alike. Now the area was to be turned into a place to escape from.

The permit was confirmed in February of 2019 with a seven-storey decrease in height and an increase in the size of open spaces but subsequently revoked by the Maltese courts after Planning Board member Matthew Pace was found to have had a conflict of interest. An ominous silence followed the judgement until fresh plans were presented last December.

Over four periods, objections totalled 17,000, setting national records. Yet, the public has been treated with utter disdain

Over four periods, objections totalled 17,000, setting national records. Yet, the public has been treated with utter disdain. We were not informed that a new objection period had opened up last February. We have been kept in the dark about the precise location of a road and tunnel linking the coast road to the project site. We know our taxes will be paying for this road, for other infrastructure surrounding the project and for a good chunk of the €80 million ITS relocation to SmartCity.

We have already paid €8,750 to fly in board member Jacqueline Gili to vote in favour of the project. Through a deceitful RFP and an egregious discount given over public land, we are subsidising a project that will enrich the group’s shareholders, give little back to the community and ruin the standard of living in a peaceful area of Pembroke. The project will be putting €60 million in the public treasury but only a quarter will be actually paid by db, without interest – the rest will come from those who purchase apartments.

‘City-Centre’ will now consist of two towers, 17 storeys high, and a hotel reduced to 12 storeys. The project’s volume has actually grown, since three more residential storeys have been sneaked in on the pretext of lowering the original tower’s height. Even more bang for their buck and a more sizable footprint.

The project’s impact still extends to the residential area of St Patrick’s and the Natura 2000 site, which the road and tunnel will cut through. The mitigation measures db are still proposing, funded by planning gain, will likely translate into parking areas, offloaded onto public land, and beach decking - on a Natura 2000 site. ERA is still concerned about the project’s impact on Ħarq Ħamiem Cave.

And approval augurs an uncertain future, since db may apply for a further increase in height, a loophole that was previously exploited by Joseph Portelli in the Mercury Towers.

But this is not just about db’s project. Five years ago, a master plan was proposed, then aborted. In its absence, we are only able to discuss policy with regards to individual projects. Without a master plan, the project’s assessment of traffic generation, even if we are to trust it, is incomplete. The master plan would have created spaces designated as public walkways along the coast, public spaces and plazas. But it had also earmarked eight other sites for development. How are we going to mitigate their impact if these developments are no longer even being considered holistically? And what precedent does this case set?

For keeping mum, neighbouring Corinthia will likely be rewarded with a lifting of restrictions on constructing residential units.

Those who are angry that the benefactors of public housing have spoken up about this should be equally incensed at the fact that db received public land for a throwaway price.

The Maltese are capable of civic responsibility but the close relationship between politicians and big business stifles us and limits our confidence in change. Recent developments in the Maltese political scene should give us some hope and courage to keep fighting on.

The hearing is set for June 10.

Signed by Rafel Grima, Samwel Grima, Rita Zammit, Norman Zammit, Stephanie Buttigieg, Josef Buttigieg, Sonya Tanti, Nathalie Grima, Adrian Grima and Alison Pullicino.