Mepa's reform: Is it really happening?

The resolution by Mepa to ask the Fort Cambridge developers to return to the parameters set by the Fort Cambridge Development Brief was a ground-breaking decision. This, the Qui-Si-Sana and Tigné Residents Association hopes, marks a change of heart in Mepa and the beginning of the end of the authority's habit of acting as a rubber-stamp for developers.

As pointed out by a Mepa director, the proposed development is massive and ugly. It has been deemed to have a serious, negative visual impact. The development will also have a severe effect on traffic, light, air quality and wind speeds in the neighbourhood, with grave implications for surrounding residents and knock-on effects for the rest of Sliema.

No matter what was decided in the preliminary hearing, it remains a fact that any deviation from the Development Brief is illegal and it is with considerable relief that we see that the majority of Mepa board members have decided to conform.

I must admit I was highly sceptical of the Prime Minister's last-minute meetings and pre-election promises to residents. It seems I was wrong and this is the first tangible sign that they were not simply a vote catching exercise.

The word on the street is that a number of these apartments have already been sold on plan. One presumes that the higher units would have been sold first.

This, together with the fact that other massive high rises are projected for the area, means that the pressure to reverse this decision to reduce the height must be enormous. The residents of Sliema, especially those of Tigné and Qui-Si-Sana, can only wait and see.