Mary Rose Busietta, Sliema
Dingli Street houses should be developed
How can Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar compare Sir Adrian Dingli Street to other village cores in Malta? (October 21). When we talk of village cores we envisage the narrow winding streets of Lija, Attard, Balzan, Rabat, etc. Dingli Street is a straight, wide, long road that leads straight to the Sliema Front.
Because it is straight, because it is wide, it can take six or seven storeys on both sides of the road without making the residents feel suffocated.
Houses No. 9 and 10 in this street do have art deco façades, but to have FAA place No 10 on a par with "national monuments" is taking its enthusiasm a bit too far. Is it not better to have these houses developed and so prevent these "national monuments" from further deterioration?
FAA comes out very strongly against development of Sliema property which it does not own. Human nature being what it is, their love for home and country with all its architectural heritage would quickly evaporate were they ever to own such houses personally and were given the chance to have their property developed.
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George Debono
Oct 27th 2008, 21:39
I'm sorry, but you are still discussing everything in terms of money.
Mary Rose Busietta
Oct 27th 2008, 20:29
Maybe the wording I used was a bit too strong and Mrs Helen Caruana Galizia must be praised for her action.
However I still feel that it is unfair that anybody who invested in their property be it in Sliema or any other locality should be deprived from developing and realizing their investment if they so wish.But then as Ms Cynthia Busuttil put it,if these property owners are offered real market price compensation for contributing towards Malta's heritage then everyone will be happy.
c.t. busuttil
Oct 27th 2008, 17:38
Honestly speaking, I'm not sure I would be too happy to give up my home to Malta's heritage seeing that its my only investment! I recall the Hon Mr George Pullicino creating a sort of fine/Fund against space being short when it came to garages in a block. I believe this Fund could be put to use for this purpose: restoration of privately owned properties or market-price compensation to the owners contributing to the heritage. Then everyone will be happy.
George Debono
Oct 27th 2008, 15:46
This letter is exceedingly offensive – It is a blatant insult to members of FAA and other NGOs who sacrifice their time to preserve the cultural and environmental integrity of our country.
You also leave out another dimension – namely that Sliema has now passed saturation point from every aspect including, in particular, traffic congestion and pollution.
Yes, Ms Busietta, Sliema has beem destroyed by GREED but you are pathetically wrong to think that everybody is greedy. FAA and other NGOs are living proof of this.
G
john fenech
Oct 27th 2008, 12:24
Mary Rose Busietta by your definition of village core it follows that the chances of development in such locations are very restricted indeed. Therefore the definition, to make sense, must surely be applied to a different set of boundaries.
Although it is true that owners, or the relative of the owners, have a right to develop the property, on the other hand the state have the obligation to preserve the heritage property. Although the authorities were away on a very long vacation when the houses in Tower Road were being developed! So what remains should be protected while the owners will be compensated.
C Cassar
Oct 27th 2008, 12:14
Since Mrs Busietta has posed questions about the relationship between FAA's position and its members' material interests (which have been quite well answered by Astrid Vella), perhaps she can tell us about her own. Is her letter motivated by any prospect of material gain?
Astrid Vella
Oct 27th 2008, 09:52
Mrs Busietta: "village core" is layman's language for the planning technical
jargon "Urban Conservation Area" and as such refers to the old part of any of
Malta's towns and villages and does not necessarily refer to the winding village
lanes Ms Busietta is referring to.
It is not a case of FAA getting carried away by its enthusiasm. FAA was simply
quoting MEPA documents which state that the building is almost Grade 1 quality.
Grade 1 refers to National Monuments.
As for Ms Busietta's slanderous claims about FAA members, Mrs Busietta would be
interested to know that FAA founder member Helen Caruana Galizia lost many thousands
of liri in having her house, Villa Alhambra in Rudolph Street Sliema, scheduled
PRIOR to selling it, in order to guarantee that it was not tampered with or
demolished. Other members have restored old properties when they could have
developed.
FAA is also the only Heritage NGO that has been pressing the authorities for the
activation of the Heritage Fund which was established in 1990 in order to give
owners financial assistance to restore heritage properties. Unfortunately after 18
years this Fund is still dormant. Does that answer your questions about FAA's
heritage credentials?
Philip Grech
Oct 27th 2008, 09:47
What we lose will be lost for ever like we lost Wied id-Diss with the "two storey" apartments.