A large apartment block earmarked for Balzan should be considered by the main board of the Planning Authority, in view of its size, and not the Environment Planning Commission, an environmental NGO has said.

In a statement, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar expressed disgust at the way how a first hearing about the project was handled by the commission's chairperson Stephania Baldacchino.

The NGO said an associate of Gozitan property magnate Joseph Portelli is proposing to build a 2,400 sq.m. floor of retail outlets, and four overlying floors of 90 apartments including penthouses with rooftop pools on the site of the former Dolphin supermarket facing the Balzan Urban Conservation Area.

The NGO said the application should have been subjected to an Environment Impact Assessment since it may have significant adverse effects on the environment, but not even an Environment Impact Statement was requested by the PA.

It said the five-storey massing will rise two storeys higher than the local plans allow and will look directly into the gardens of the villas at the back of the site.

"Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar questions the fact that this application for such a large project went before the Environment Planning Commission, which handles the bulk of smaller projects, rather than the main PA Board which handles the larger projects. Is this due to the fact that a board of three persons is easier to ‘convince’ than a Board of 13?" the NGO asked. 

It added that it was shocking that the project’s requirement for a Traffic Impact Assessment was waived when regulations say that one is needed for developments of 75 residences or more. The traffic generation report made no reference to unloading facilities for the nine new shops. Were delivery trucks to draw up on the pavement to unload?  

The FAA said that upon its insistence, the case was deferred due to missing documents.