The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal is set to decide on an appeal seeking to revoke a planning application that would see the abandoned Dolphin Centre in Balzan redeveloped into an 88-unit mega block of apartments.

The permit, PA/08693/20, which also allows for the construction of retail and office space, a bank, a restaurant, 69 basement garages, 70 car spaces, a gym, as well as a pool and a jacuzzi, was approved by the Planning Authority in September last year.

At the time, objectors voiced multiple concerns about the size and scale of the project and accused the developers of ‘salami slicing’ the development, claiming that it was linked to a much larger project.

The appeal, which was filed jointly by the Balzan local council, Dorianne Mifsud, Rebecca Busuttil, Sarah Kennard and NGO’s Din l-Art Ħelwa and Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, puts forward a number of reasons why they believe the permit fails to satisfy the requirements for a number of planning policies and should therefore be annulled.

In the 42-page document, the appellants highlight how they believe that, based on its scale and gross floor area, the application should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment, that would have put it under additional and more stringent scrutiny.

“Clearly, an EIA was required even more since the entire development is even larger than just PA 08693/20 considered on its own. This is the classic case of the ‘salami slicing’ process, aimed to avoid the scrutiny of an EIA,” they said.

The proposed development would have a negative effect on its surrounding environment, particularly with the excavation of two whole levels, as well as on traffic, noise and waste generation associated with the increase in residents expected in the unit.

'Why doesn't such a large development require an EIA study?'

Based on the 2011 census, the appellants said that with the 3,455 people living in 1,438 households in Balzan, the development would increase the residential population of the village by 5 per cent and the number of dwellings by 6 per cent.

“It is therefore very difficult to understand how such a large development did not require an EIA study,” they say.

The objectors also said that the development should have been subjected to a transport impact assessment prior to the permit being granted due to the expected increase in traffic generation during both the construction phase of the project as well as that generated by the expected commercial outlets.

The granting of the permit, the appellants continue, also fails to take into account that it will lead to the destruction of the last remaining historical features of Villino Bar-Bil, which they say was demolished illegally in 1986.

The documentation fails to indicate the presence of a historic cistern, they said, and fails to make any plans to conserve the nymphaeum and adjacent historic wall that are the last remnants of the original property.

The permit holders also did not seek permission to remove two mature ficus trees from the property and execution of the permit will ultimately lead to their destruction.

In its concluding remarks, the appeal holds that the application would have been acceptable within a development, but now immediately outside a UCA or a villa area.

“This project is simply the product of including as many residential units as possible into this area and failing to satisfy the policies of the Local Plan, DC15, and the overarching principles of SPED.” they said.

“This development on its own will add a six per cent increase to the population of Balzan together with all the other impacts from retail and parking.”

“It is quite clear that the site and the context simply cannot sustain such density and over-development.”

The decision is expected on Thursday at 1.15pm.