Rape of a residential area

Ray Bezzina, writing about the proposed car park in Qui-Si-Sana for the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Environment, dismisses the extra three metres added to the height of the Qui-Si-Sana Development Brief as irrelevant. The reason he gives is that this is merely the site description. He then goes on to say that the brief will ensure that the roof of the project will follow the "existing lie of the land" as defined in the site description! This mind-boggling logic, coupled with the fact that three metres is exactly one storey, simply confirms fears that the car park is to become a commercial development with a car park attached.

As regards the Ferries Parking, this was on the cards to be removed, no matter what Mr Bezzina tries to imply. However, when faced with the prospect of a battle with the GRTU the government backed down and not only reinstated the car park but found an extra million liri to reclaim land to accommodate this. As those retailers who were involved in the negotiations will confirm, this was out of the question right up to a few days ago.

Mr Bezzina also confirms that the brief allows residents to be charged a fee. There is no definition of "nominal" and in any case, it would certainly not remain so. The declarations of the mayor and the ADT that the local council will administer the Residents Parking Zone and that no resident will be charged are so far nothing but hot air as this would require the brief to be changed and up to today, it has not. Until then, these statements can only be viewed as the pre-election promises they are.

The Qui-Si-Sana garden is to be developed into a Paceville-style entertainment complex. A large part of the garden is to be converted to an open-air terrace for the use of the commercial outlets. This development is certainly not going to be underground. Mepa's case officer has already confirmed that they are prepared to allow this. 7,000 square metres is an awful lot of space and will destroy the social fabric of the area, as it did in Paceville. All the Nationalist members of the present council have voted in favour of this commercial development and it is significant that not one prospective Nationalist councillor has come out against this officially sanctioned rape of a residential area.

Following the backdown over the Ferries car park the residents of Qui-Si-Sana were hoping to receive the same treatment, with discussions over the commercial development of the garden. However, the declaration by George Pullicino that "nothing is cast in stone" seems to apply to everything except the Qui-Si-Sana Development Brief. This is the only part of the project that is not negotiable. Although the commercial development was never the subject of any public consultation, the government is determined to impose it on the residents, willy-nilly.