'Ill-thought and ill-timed'

The legal notice on resident parking schemes was ill-thought and ill-timed and will have a serious negative effect on tourists' mobility and businesses, according to the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

The association has called on the government to withdraw the legal notice because such a blanket approach would not alleviate parking problems but worsen conditions for residents, non-residents and tourists.

The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) said the legal notice published last week had only enshrined in law residents' parking schemes that already existed in the best part of the 19 localities affected, pointing out that some had been in place for several months, some even since 2001.

The MHRA is predominantly concerned about the Sliema area, which would be hit by a series of new roads being placed under the scheme and would adversely affect businesses and exacerbate lack of parking facilities.

Moreover, parking time allowed in most areas was unreasonable and would cause problems for motorists who needed to visit a particular area for a longer period.

Residents, the MHRA said, had expressed serious concerns on the availability of parking space for visiting family and friends, who would also face problems to park their cars within reasonable walking distances.

"The MHRA calls on the government to immediately withdraw this insensitive legislation until a sound and holistic plan is drawn up for each particular area," it said.

The MHRA hoped common sense would prevail and that "rather than putting the cart before the horse" the country's requirements would be given the importance they deserved.

The ADT said the residential parking schemes implemented by local councils and listed in the new legal notice had all been approved by the authority over the last seven years and had been in force since. "They have now been incorporated in a legal notice to ensure better legal clarity," it said.

The ADT said the aim of parking control in residential streets was to manage limited on-street parking among different users when demand for parking exceeded the supply. A road qualified for a residential parking scheme if the demand for parking exceeds the supply by 70 per cent.

It said it processed and assessed applications for such schemes submitted by local councils based on surveys with detailed information on supply and demand.

The ADT carried out extensive consultations with all stakeholders likely to be affected by the proposed scheme. The business community and residents were the major stakeholders considered during the consultation phase. The final scheme was approved based on the results of the analysis of the surveys and on the outcome of the consultation process.