Johann Grech wants a helipad

The government-appointed film commissioner Johann Grech has added a helipad to his increasingly ambitious plans for the redevelopment of the Malta Film Studios, even as planning authorities remain unconvinced by the proposal and have demanded a full assessment by Transport Malta, The Shift can reveal.

The proposed helipad forms part of a new planning application, filed by Grech last month through architect Robert Sarsero for the publicly owned studios in Kalkara.

The application is still at the screening stage and remains incomplete.

Authorities examining the plans have told Grech that the proposed helipad requires a comprehensive study by Transport Malta before the application can proceed.

No explanation has been provided for why a permanent helipad is needed at the studios, who would use it or how frequently helicopters would be expected to land there.

It is also unclear whether the facility is required for film productions or is intended to transport executives, actors and other visitors due to the growing traffic problem. Malta International Airport is already located a relatively short drive from the studios.

The helipad is the latest addition to a project that has changed substantially since Grech first announced plans for three sound stages in 2020. The project has remained in planning form.

Although the original development was granted planning permission, nothing was built. Grech later commissioned revised designs centred on one 4,000-square-metre “land-sea super stage”, without disclosing how much was spent on the abandoned plans.

The project has now suddenly grown into the redevelopment and private commercial operation of practically the entire 92,400-square-metre Malta Film Studios site.

A recently published tender seeks a private company to finance, build, operate and maintain the complex under a 65-year concession estimated to be worth €744 million.

Apart from the sound stage and helipad, the plans include deep-and shallow-water filming facilities, production buildings, offices and other infrastructure.

The selected concessionaire would finance all the development and carry its construction and commercial risks while retaining revenue generated from operating the studios.

Grech has described the project as the “final piece of the jigsaw” needed to establish Malta as a world-class film destination.

Yet the inclusion of a helipad raises further questions about the scale and necessity of his plans, particularly given his record of extravagant spending at the taxpayers’ expense.

Under Grech – a Labour Party operative from the faction of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat –  the Film Commission has spent millions on film festivals, awards ceremonies, celebrity appearances and promotional events. The National Audit Office has previously criticised the Commission’s poor budgetary controls and described aspects of its spending as extravagant.

This time, Grech is attempting to have the private sector finance his expanding list of requirements. But the project still involves handing control of a major public asset to a commercial operator for more than six decades.

The Film Commission has not explained who requested the helipad, what it is expected to cost or what operational assessment established that it was necessary.