Local parking

In his "Wide Angle" of February 4 ("Goings-on at the local"), Lino Spiteri agreed with the court's view that a local council's decision to designate a parking area as residential is ultra vires and therefore illegal. I am the politician who proposed, implemented and administered the new parking scheme in Pietà, which the court condemned.

Mr Spiteri is looking at the issue from a popular point of view and his position is obviously more popular than mine. However, the reasons for implementing a new parking scheme in my locality are very different from those he gave.

It was not driven by the prospect of the council receiving any revenue. Revenue never entered into the logic of the scheme, although it was an automatic consequence. The only reason it was introduced during my tenure was to try to give the residents of Pietà and Guardamangia a better quality of life.

Residents faced the constant frustration of being unable to find parking close to or within walking distance of their residences, at any time before 8 p.m. The situation was unbearable because previous governments, although justifiably very proud of the quality of medical services offered by the only general hospital in Malta, failed to provide adequate parking facilities for the thousands of clients daily visiting the hospital.

The streets of Pietà and Guardamangia for decades have been serving as a car park for St Luke's Hospital. The locality does not only house the hospital, but also residents and commercial enterprises. Like any other locality it is vibrant and encompasses a community that deserves to be treated as such.

Obviously, when the parking scheme was being drafted, the fact that thousands of people visit St Luke's daily had to be kept in mind and that is why only a small percentage of the parking bays available in the locality were included in the controlled parking scheme.

I have always considered my election to office as a duty to seek change and to solve problems that my constituents face. This may be why I have always been the first to be elected in the Pietà local elections.

I am not a politician who just shrugs in the face of problems or one who shifts the problem to the central government. Since I am a councillor, my first duty is to try to solve the locality's problems on a local level. So I believe that local councils do have an inherent right to be creative and serve those who live, work and play in the locality.

From a professional analysis that I commissioned of the parking situation in Pietà there was absolutely no balance between the various users of our streets. As mayor I proposed to introduce such a balance. Residents were extremely frustrated and therefore my council introduced small pockets in the streets of Pietà and Guardamangia where parking is regulated by time.

The scheme was aimed to ensure that at least in these pockets there would be a quick turnover of parking, while residents would not be subject to such restrictions. As a result, residents were presented with a fighting chance of having the possibility of parking somewhere close to their house.

I agree with Mr Spiteri that a resident does not have a right to a parking space bang outside his house; however, he should be given an opportunity to park near his residence. Living in Pietà and Guardamangia guarantees that without a parking system, residents cannot park in the same street they live in.

As mayor I saw neighbours who were not on speaking terms because of a parking incident or who had no option but to convert their precious dining or living room into a garage.

I knew that the new system would controversial, especially because of St Luke's Hospital. I remember Labour leading the criticism and Manuel Cuschieri agreeing with phone-ins that I was the enemy of the old and the sick and that I would tax visitors to the hospital.

What are Mr Cuschieri's views now that we have a Labour mayor and that the Labour majority is currently implementing the very same policies I introduced?

I knew that this policy was not going to be nationally accepted, because only the 3,000 residents of the locality would really appreciate what I was trying to do for them. The rest of the population of these islands would like to park their cars in Pietà without any restrictions.

It seems that the criticism levelled in the judgment and in Mr Spiteri's piece is that there should not be any distinction between residents of different localities. I agree in principle, but should a locality be penalised for being the creative and for taking the bull by the horns?

Any locality facing the same problem may, if it wishes, apply the same measures. Is this not why councils were created? Localities have different problems and the solutions may be different or may have a different emphasis. It was my duty to offer a solution or a near-solution to the parking problem in my locality.

Personally I do not need any parking scheme, because I have a garage, but as mayor I felt I had to address the problem.

Let me share my own personal experience. Whenever I visited my in-laws, both before and after I got married, I always parked outside their door (not their garage). Undoubtedly, my in-laws live in a locality which does not need a parking scheme and its residents should not be tied a national parking scheme.

Controlled parking schemes exist for councils to implement should they wish, them and it is up to the individual councils to decide whether or not there is such a need.

The court stated that parking may be reserved for humanitarian or security reasons.

However, there are grey areas in this regard. I am not convinced it is such a good idea that the top brass in the civil service have reserved parking bays outside their office for security reasons.

I cannot help thinking that if I had a grudge against the director of an authority or a government department, wouldn't a sign saying "Reserved for Department of ...." be a clear invitation for me to vandalise the car belonging to the person responsible for turning down my application or perceived right? In actual fact, these reserved parking spaces are untaxed perks.

I have an office in Valletta and the neighbouring streets are dotted with such reserved parking spaces.

Mr Spiteri referred to the next local elections; if I may switch hats as president of the College of Councillors of the Nationalist Party, I encourage Nationalist councillors to work to address their locality's problems and to be pro-active and creative.

Local councils are not dispatchers of street sweepers or waste collectors. They are not the people who dig up our roads.

We do not need elections for this. We need elections for residents to turn up with the energy and will to discuss and decide on change and solutions. The Nationalist Party encourages creativity of this sort.

Coming back to the judgment in question. It has brought the controversy to the fore again and it is clear from reading the judgement that the judge in question only expressed his personal opinion.

The council will be appealing this judgment in the hope that the Court of Appeal will express its legal opinion.

Malcolm Mifsud, LL.M. (IMLI), LL.D., is a former mayor of Pietà.