The architect behind the Ta’ Cenc proposal, Martin Xuereb, believes the design for the villa area would prevent further development.
He was interviewed by this newsroom last week, and said that this area looks like an unfinished symphony. “You have a villa here, a villa there, no sense of uniformity. To me, it would look better closing off the area once and for all. As it is its neither here nor there”.
The Ta’ Ċenċ saga has been ongoing on for almost two decades, with various proposals being presented to Mepa by the same developers. All the proposals have been met with harsh criticism, as the public and environmental NGOs insist that the plans will lead to the destruction of magnificent countryside.
The plan includes the development of 15 villas, and would modify the roads in that area of the plan. “Where you have a road there is a tendency to build on it”. By having the plots in a form of cul-de-sac, this would, in his view, prevent further development in the villa designated area.
As for further ancillary development, he said that at the moment the villas there have septic tanks. “We are talking of 15 new septic tanks in addition to the 11 that are already there. There is also talk, in case of spillage in the road for example, to include reservoirs”.
He was unable to say how much the villas would sell for stating that he is not an estate agent. “It would depend on supply and demand”.
Turning to the area which was designated as “use to be determined”, Mr Xuereb clarified that this area referred to agricultural land. At the time, there was talk about turning that into a golf course, he said, adding that now there is no discussion as to what it is, and it is definitely agricultural land.
Existing view
View as proposed
Hotel extension
Turning to the hotel extension, he said that this will be divided into two main parts, one consisting of 66 rooms and one of around 50 rooms.
“In winter, it’s very hard to operate as a hotel, as for visitors to reach their room they would need to go outside. We decided to extend one bit with 66 rooms as more rooms are needed in summer. Then there are others (around 50) which were designed to incorporate cover for the winter months. This way there would be some rooms accessible for winter months”.
The 66 room extension, which mainly overlooks the heritage park, would take around one or two years of construction and finishing. Asked about the effects this would have on flora, fauna, as well as the birdlife in the area, he said – “there’s a construction phase and a finishing phase, so construction itself would not last for two years.
“When the extension to the hotel was built there was, around a year of construction and a year of finishing had occurred”.
Birds
The main concern regarding the Scopoli Shearwater (Ciefa) species of migrating bird was light pollution. In order for the birds to nest comfortably and not be frightened away, there has to be little or no light pollution whatsoever.
He said that the part of the hotel extension facing the main nesting area would be landscaped so that no lights go through. “Light is an important issue so we made sure to address that”. He also said that a number of the rooms on the outskirts of the area overlooking the land mainly used by the nesting birds would not have outward looking views, to minimise light pollution.
The Environment Impact Assessment had analysed the disturbance to birds as a result of construction noise, including construction work and related heavy vehicle traffic. The nature of the impact in this case is described as ‘adverse’. It says that these negative effects will probably only last until the construction phase is concluded. The damage that this will cause, however, is irreversible, the assessment found.
He said that the main problem with noise lies with excavation. ”He said that there would be very little excavation at the hotel as most will be built above ground.
“The project as it is now, is just an outline”. In response to a question regarding the precautions that would take place during construction were the project to go through, he explained that all this would need to go through rigorous studies and approvals. “At this point in time I cannot tell you what these will be. The studies to ensure we do not disturb the birds are there, but the implementation of this, for example, would require machinery using soft wheels and not metal ones, etc. So there are a lot of ways to take precautions”.
“Construction in the area has already occurred when Ta’ Cenc was built. The birds are still coming, so an extension will not destroy the area and it’s been proven that it didn’t destroy it before. It’s a minor extension”.
He said all the extensions are occurring on disturbed land.
When asked about dust, he said that nowadays the stone comes ready dressed. “I’m not saying there won’t be any dust, I’m sure there will be some. When it comes to the extension of a hotel, you also have ongoing business concerns.” He explains that the concern of dust is not just seen from the ecological side, but also from the business aspect.
“You don’t want to jeopardise your source of revenue. The project could even be phased. Obviously you can’t close the hotel for two years, however I have not gone into this detail yet”.
The project would include underground car parking, “but instead of having to excavate downwards, because the land is already on a slope, we would only need to excavate around one metre down”.
He plans to incorporate the Trullo design in the hotel extensions. “Trullos are almost synonymous with Ta’ Cenc. They make a lot of sense for Malta as hot air rises through the centre. Obviously they are expensive so we can’t put them everywhere. I strongly believe that the hotel, with the Trullos, has become a landmark. Carrying on with the same style would fuse with what is already there”.
Asked whether this development would create precedence for development on ODZ land and Natura 2000 sites, he said – “If you had to go through the history of this project, it has been changing from one thing to another and has been going on for 40 years. When the application was introduced it wasn’t a Natura 2000 site. The Ta’ Cenc area is unique and I believe its history for applications is unique. So in this particular case one might have to look at it separately. Ta’ Cenc has always been treated separately. In my opinion it will definitely not create a precedence”.
Asked whether he believes a conflict of interest exists, given that developers pay professionals to handle environment impact assessments, he said – “that’s the system, that’s how it goes. You are talking about professionals who conduct their studies really well. These are backed up by many other consultants, so it would be ideal if the state had to pay for it but someone has to pay for it and I believe the developer has to pay for it. I believe that those handling these assessments are professionals, they do their work and are doing a very good job. I can’t see any reason why they wouldn’t do a good job”.
Heritage Park
As for the heritage park (67 hectares), he mentioned that a clean-up would need to take place. He said that there are plans to install around six resting areas throughout the park. Originally, the idea was to build these out of glass, however he was informed that this could pose a danger to the birds, so instead, they will be more like canopies. These would be used as a resting place for heritage park visitors, as well as provide needed shade in the hot summer months, he explained.
In addition, 27 hectares are also designated as protected land.
As for the interpretation centre, it would be built in the heritage park and not the hotel area. He explained that, while originally the centre was going to be larger, it would only have basic facilities, such as a meeting area, lavatory facilities and possibly a small coffee shop, in addition to around two bus parking spots outside.
“The area designated for the interpretation centre is around 235sq m, however this is not the actual building size, but the area. Obviously buses will take a lot of space. So it’s just the area allotted for facilities”.
“We don’t have the actual building size yet, but again, we were told it needs to be basic facilities”.
The whole of Ta’ Cenc is a Natura 2000 site. Asked why they want to increase the development of the area, he replied. “Well I would imagine that to build a heritage park one would need funds. I would imagine you would need some form of revenue. Rebuilding all the rubble walls that need to be rebuilt would be quite an expense”.
He mentioned that in addition to rubble walls, hunters in the past build hunting huts and even used stones from some of historical areas within Ta’ Cenc and these would need to be sorted out.
Brown - Hotel area; Blue - Heritage park; Orange - Protected area; Purple - Kantra Beach; Pink - Villa Area; Yellow - Interpretation centre; Green - Agricultural land