Car park proposal collapses under weight of objections

Balluta residents popped the champagne yesterday after hearing that the proposal to build a car park beneath their treasured square will be scrapped.

The St Julians local council dropped the controversial project after Friday's public consultation meeting made it clear all the residents opposed the nine-storey underground development.

After Friday's meeting, attended by more than 350 residents, local councillors gathered for an urgent meeting where they unanimously agreed the project should not go ahead, St Julians mayor Peter Bonello said in a statement.

Alexander Pace Gouder, from the Balluta Residents' Association, said residents welcomed the news and were celebrating with champagne.

"We're so glad and thankful to the mayor and councillors for listening to our views... We, as residents, do not feel we won against anyone. Everybody won in this case. We saved an open area for everyone to enjoy," Mr Pace Gouder said in an excited tone.

The Balluta area was one of three St Julians sites earmarked in the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's local plan for the construction of car parks. The other two sites are Wesgħet George Portanier and Mikiel Anġ Borg Street.

When the mayor unveiled the car park proposal last week he explained that the council had approved it because it was the most "doable" of the sites. Now the project was discarded, he said, the council would be studying other options.

"We will keep doing our best to try to solve the parking problem," he said when contacted.