Decision on first public rooftop garden put off again

Donald Narvaez

Nov 19th 2010, 01:23

So long as the public garden will be safe. We don't really have to worry about it. I've heard that some businesses offer flower delivery free shipping. As we all know that we could really maintain a great public garden in Malta.

Pule' Carmel

Jul 22nd 2010, 15:11

Architects are placing us like battery chickens in flats, they are trying to heal the wounds of depressions, that accrue over the last century, through roofgardens!! The city buildings and the city in general is MAN'S WORSE INVENTION. Through history, man lived with nature and flowers were around him all the time. whenever I enter a house, I never say anything as to what it is that I am thinking, but I look around me to check that people miss their natural habitat that keeps them mentally fit. I smile a little when , I see pictures of trees and vases with flowers, and fruits painted on the portraits, HANGING ON A WALL. Even plastic flowers enter our life as substitutes and we all went over tthe wall when VittoriosaCity streets statred having traces of plants in pots decorating the barren stone walls between the doors of citystreets.
We have all become stupid but happy city fools!! incidentally some people go further, they even take the sea to the city and to their houses,in the form of swimming pool.I prefered to take my family to the sea and to the countryside. Some keep animals as HOUSEHOLD PETS!!!!!Ridiculous is it not?

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Jul 22nd 2010, 14:26

P.S.

Rooftop public gardens can be rendered accessible to people with special needs if a supervised public elevator is installed. Or else such elevators may be operated by a special code made evaluable only to people with special needs, the elderly and others who have a genuine difficulty negotiating stairs after the latter have applied and submitted reasons for their need to use an elevator. One would not want children, rowdy teenagers or people of any age who have nothing better to do to entertain themselves by hogging the elevator and operating it up and down just to amuse themselves.

Marianna Galea Xuereb

Jul 22nd 2010, 14:18

@ T.Grima

“Who would want to live with people running about on their roof?”
Yes, my sentiments exactly!

Rooftop public gardens ought to be landscaped – with due regard to safety, surveillance and security - over Castilja, the houses of parliament, over the Marsa Enemalta Administration block, over the Go headquarters at Floriana, over banks, hospitals, certain hotels and office blocks (so long as the hotel’s private rooms and offices are well insulated against sound pollution) etc. but a rooftop garden over a residential apartment block should only be accessible to the owners of the apartments.

Charles Busuttil Dougall

Jul 22nd 2010, 09:44

How come none of the Marsascala Local Councillors deems it fit to answer to any of the serious allegations thrown at them? Do they have 'faham miblul'?

Reuben Vella

Jul 21st 2010, 09:07

First of all I would like to THANK Ms.Astrid Vella, thanks to people like her our country can move forward in the right direction!! She is doing the job the so called Marsascala Council should be doing!!
I would like to ask some question:
1. Why is the local council not intervening in this issue? I'm sure they have a stand and should look out for the best interest of the locality, so what are their views and what are they doing about this? Or are we only after votes when the time comes?
2. If this roof garden will be a public place will it be:
*Safe for toddlers, people with special needs and the elderly?
*Will it be accessible for families with prams, people in wheel chairs and the elderly?
3. Will it really be a public garden, knowing that it will be on top of private property? I'm sure it will not be in the interest of the owners/developers to have a public roof garden when it comes to the sale and value of the property.
Answers please anyone?

Joseph Zammit

Jul 20th 2010, 17:18

Such a shame!!! Just few points mepa must take in consideration…….
Few open spaces are left in M’ Skala., Can’t figure out how can someone on a wheel chair can ever benefit from a roof public garden, For my opinion it’s already hard to go around on a wheel chair even more to ride a wheel chair up a ramp to benefit from what’s supposed to be something public which I strongly believe it’s just a loop hole to get along with the green lights for such project. Such project should have been denied!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have the authorities ever been aware in what situation Triq IL Gandoffli is kept just cause of this ETVAN GOD? Have the local council and even more the mayor been aware that when residents residing in the mentioned street, from their own good will and finances were trying to ease access to their own garage drive way, they got threatened and insulted from this Etvan GOD!!!!! I do believe so, but they knock at our door just for votes no more & no less Shame on you Councilors and even more MR Mayor
Only one statement suits all this MONEY TALKS

J Zammit

Jane Galea

Jul 20th 2010, 16:04

We want the public space to be kept public and opened up as a public garden where we can go with our children to play safely not taken by the private speculators for their own greed. This is a public space not a private space and we want it back.

Steve Delia

Jul 20th 2010, 16:01

A small insight at what's happening in Marsascala
http://marsascala.webs.com/

Alfred Muscat

Jul 20th 2010, 15:53

Can anyone who visited London comment on Toms and Derry Roof Garden. It's na supermarket with full blown tress and shrubs....4 or 5 storeys high
in the middel of metropolitan London not Malta's Marsacscala. Oh yes waht is new is bad...now that we have been given the facility to speak out adainst anything not as we were used to do some 30 yrs ago....hius masterp0s voice and that alone.

Astrid Vella

Jul 20th 2010, 15:46

It has to be said that the DCC A Chairman is doing her best to keep a fair balance of the interests of all parties. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of some of her colleagues who do not even try to cover up the fact that their only interest is in bulldozing developers' interests. In fact it was a struggle to convince them that safety priorities demand that an area for public use, whether a theatre or a public garden, always requires an emergency exit in case something causes a blockage or worse at the main entrance.

This ignoring of safety regulations is not limited to MEPA. OHSA washed its hands too, as where the public is concerned there is no authority that takes responsibility. No wonder we're having so many accidents lately.

As for the question below re solar panel and photovoltaics, very true, but MEPA says that MRA is in charge of implementing energy efficiency laws which came into force in 2007, hence nobody sees to them!

a attard

Jul 20th 2010, 14:50

Nothing like trees and shrubs with roots anchored to the ground…..cannot compare it with the plant in a pot ‘garden’

Joe Cordina

Jul 20th 2010, 14:23

Had it to be astrid to note a safety discrepancy? No fire escape? would Mepa have approved this poject without an adequate fire escape? SHAME

Stephen Rizzo

Jul 20th 2010, 14:05

So where will the apartment owners put their satellite dishes, water tanks, photovoltaic panels and solar heaters if the permit is granted? And what about the shafts of the owners?? Will this "public garden" be open to the public or is it just a made-up-name like Etvan Hotel Gardens just to serve the interest of the fat cats (as usual)?

Thank you to the counsellors for being present !! : (

Paul Caruana

Jul 20th 2010, 14:01

A "public" garden, sited on a rooftop three storeys high? In practice, I wonder just how accessable to the public can that be.

Looks like a ploy to allow the redevelopment of yet another hotel into an apartment block - which sadly MEPA went along with.

John Inguanez

Jul 20th 2010, 13:49

Better for Flimkien għal Ambjent aħjar deal with the monstrosity on the opposite side and its future extensions before waging more wars. Or these are untouchables, because I never heard FAA protesting during the applicaton process?!

KZarb

Jul 20th 2010, 13:42

This Council seems to fare worse than the Fgura one. Perhaps the PL is considering a vote of no confidence in its mayor too?

Joe Zammit

Jul 20th 2010, 13:33

Il-Kunsill favur min hu, favur ir-residenti jew l-ispekulaturi?

Adrian Sciberras

Jul 20th 2010, 13:27

The whole point for the developers for just 1 "hidden" entrance was so that this "public" garden actually remains private.

The South local plan paved way for this maligned development, but now with another entrance from Triq il-Bahhara, the developers will have to lower the levels planned probably from four floors to three or two floors.

We residents will have no objection if the development is as it should be, but it was obvious (hence Mepa deferred once again) that there was abuse of the site in place to extract more and more apartments which I do not know they want to move ahead with such a development when there is no much abundant supply of apartments in the area - just look opposite!

Once again, rather than trying to get some EU funds to refurbish the hotel and re-open for business, and get business/tourists to Marsaskala the owners are happier to build concrete walls. I am sure with the time they've been waiting to get the greenlight to build they would have generated much more business from the hotel operations!

Wrong choices at the wrong time. This is one of Malta's priceless development!

O.Tanti

Jul 20th 2010, 13:18

Hats off and well done to Ms Astrid Vella for pointing out such an essential safety requirement. I would like to appeal to MEPA, particularly architects to honestly and truly rise to their professional responsibilities. It was up to them to point out this basic requirement for safety and not Ms Vella,

While admiring and appreciating MEPA's positive reaction, one hopes that similar action is taken in other cases in the future.

mark dalli

Jul 20th 2010, 13:11

Well Done Astrid!!

Does it have to take an NGO to point out & suggest this?
Something must be seriously lacking with our thinking for public spaces.

T.Grima

Jul 20th 2010, 12:59

Check your facts - A public roof garden was supposed to be opened above the infamous Birgu seafront apartments. Go to the site today (behind the casino) - the gate is padlocked, and there's no sign of the promised garden. Then again, do you blame the developers and the apartment owners? Who would want to live with people running about on their roof?

R. Gauci

Jul 20th 2010, 12:20

Public garden ghar-residenti ta` l-appartamenti? Jew se jimlewh bil-bars/take aways u jidhol kullhadd ha nkomplu nhaxxnu bwietna? Jekk dan hu l-kaz msieken min se jixtri hemm ovvjament wara li jkun hallas il-belli liri hux ghax bis-sea view peress li mill-gallarijja se in-nies jieklu l-pizza u c-chips f'Zonqor Point.

Tal-kunsill ahjar jiehdu hsieb jirrangaw il-front ghax kollox imsaddad hemm, ma tistghax tpoggi bil-qeghda fuq bank. Wied il-Ghajn mess il-qiegh, mhux ta` xejn dejjem vojt taqta erbgha anzjani jippassiggjaw.

D Schembri

Jul 20th 2010, 12:08

The whole idea of a public garden is to have open space.

A roof top garden does not satisfy this requirement. Utterly non-sense.