Worried Sliema residents view Fort Cambridge plans

Sliema residents were yesterday briefed on the Fort Cambridge (ex-Crowne Plaza Hotel) development project, with images of how the skyline would change and how congested the traffic could become.

The images were collated by architect and Sliema councillor Martin Debono (MLP), from "deep down in the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's website" and from memory and the taking of notes during meetings with its officials.

The residents were presented with images of the adjacent proposed buildings and how the whole area would be converted once the development was undertaken.

The residents expressed shock when they were shown unrecognisable images of the Tigne peninsula taken on entering the harbour. They complained about the absence of the local council from the meeting which it was said "has no voice" on the issue. Also attending the meeting was Alternattiva Demokratika local councillor Michael Briguglio. According to Mr Debono, this will be a case of over-development, which would cause health problems, congestion and the deterioration of the quality of life. "The plans should be in full view, but we cannot copy any information and had to dig it out," he said.

The meeting yesterday was called to put the residents in the picture - which was "constantly changing". It was also held in view of a Mepa meeting that was scheduled for today but was postponed.

Mepa was expected to "hammer the last nail into the coffin by rushing through its approval of the application with no regard to the devastating effect it would have on the environment of our residential area," one resident said. "Last week, we realised that the permit was going to go through today. The residents living behind the proposed development were quite worried, so a meeting was called," Chris Vassallo, acting chairman of the Qui-Si-Sana Residents Association, said.

"When we had seen the plans, they were not the final ones. But Mepa was still going to take a decision. We were considering taking legal action as, according to law, we should have had adequate time," he said.

Feedback from the residents would now be evaluated to determine what line of action to take, Mr Vassallo said, pointing out, however, that the tender for the project had already been awarded and the development brief passed through Cabinet. The association did not agree, in principle, with such an intense development, he said.

Association officials called at Mepa to see the plans yesterday and noticed that certain adjustments were being made in the residents' favour. But the "biggest bone of contention is the amount of apartments - 380 - tied to the development brief and that we plan to fight to the end," Mr Vassallo said.

The residents' line of action now is to "pester" MPs and local councillors and be more militant. They were encouraged to complain also to the EU.

The residents' association intends to exert pressure on politicians and is mulling filing a judicial protest. In his speech, AD chairman Harry Vassallo described the development as "an act of violence, where people don't count and are expendable".

Mepa employees were receptive to the residents' comments, Astrid Vella, coordinator of Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, said. But the problem was that a political decision to grant the development had been taken, so the only leeway available involved the actual positioning of the blocks and heights.

While Mepa officials were being attentive to the residents' concerns, nothing could be done about "the critical issue of planting such a massive and intensive development in what has become Malta's most built-up area".

Sliema's population density of 10,000 persons per square kilometre vied with cities like New York, which stood at 10,500, Ms Vella pointed out. The difference was that Sliema did not have the necessary infrastructure to cope with it. It was also one of the few places in Malta where air pollution rates have increased since November 2005, instead of decreasing as was the case in the rest of the island. It has been confirmed that recent projects would add over 1,300 units to the Tignè peninsula, Ms Vella said.

Sliema residents were opposing a Mepa board decision on the development without an environment impact assessment, which Ms Vella said was a requisite. The EIA was being waived on a variety of grounds, including the fact that the shadow cast by the proposed development - six blocks, ranging from 14 to 22 storeys high - would be the same as the current four to six storeys, she said.

The residents were already facing two other mega projects - Townsquare and Tignè Point - and were "still under threat of having an unneeded car park at Qui-Si-Sana Gardens rammed down our throats," Ms Vella complained.