Huge tent owner says TFS will not affect vines

THE tensioned fabric structure (TFS) being erected by Sign-It at Ta' Qali is probably going to be put up in an area away from Meridiana vineyard, Sign-It managing director Reuben Caruana said yesterday. The TFS was supposed to be located alongside the vineyard but Meridiana proprietor Mark Miceli Farrugia was objecting on the grounds that it would affect the vines.

Mr Caruana is convinced that the TFS would not have had any impact - it is barely 0.03% of the size of the vineyard - but he is quite happy to avoid needless confrontation and is now awaiting news from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA).

In the meantime, the TFS is still at the docks in the UK as Mr Caruana wants to ensure that his Lm1.5 million investment will be allowed to stay up after June, when his permit expires.

Under current legislation, tents and other temporary structures can stay up for only six months in any year, but he is optimistic that MEPA will realise that the old legislation is no longer relevant.

"The original legislation was drawn up when I started to import marquees, but this is quite different. Although it is temporary, it takes a considerable time to be put up and taken down," he said.

"Also, we want to use the TFS for major events which need to be booked and confirmed some time in advance. We could not take bookings and then let people down."

MEPA recently issued a call for suggestions on changes to the 2000 Ta' Qali action plan, which closed last Friday. It incorporates two aspects relevant to the TFS: a proposed temporary site, and the eventual convention centre, for which a tender would be issued.

Mr Caruana is hoping that the changes to the action plan would create a new procedure which would allow him to obtain a permit for three years, by which time it is assumed that the convention centre would be up and running. Sign-It applied for a full development permit - the only other option currently available once the present permit expires - but this would presumably be made irrelevant by a new procedure for temporary structures.

In the meantime, Sign-It and Arena, the British company from which he and other investors bought the TFS, is tackling inquiries, although it was not able to launch the new company and its TFS at a major conference fair next week, held back by the uncertainty over what will happen once the temporary permit expires.