Angelo Xuereb, Tal-Virtu
Proposal for a new Sliema waterfront
While the recent upgrading of Tower Road and Qui-Si-Sana is commendable, one should now consider the upgrading of the Sliema waterfront on The Strand side. Before a master plan is developed for this prestigious location, one has to take into consideration the needs of this location, together with its long-term potential.
This is without any doubt a fantastic location with the potential to develop a super yacht hub which would be the envy of other competing marinas in the Mediterranean. For this to materialise a local breakwater would need to be constructed where the depth of the sea is not considerable, rendering the area a safe harbour all year round. The cost for a local breakwater in a depth of only 10 metres should not be exorbitant. The availability of many retail shops and restaurants in the vicinity is ideal to develop a marquee-type waterfront which is an idyllic environment for super yachts’ users.
Those who have been to the famous St Tropez in the south of France can realise that this super yacht hub for the summer season only, offers similar attractions, but has established a name for the rich and famous who visit this old town on a regular basis.
However to compete and offer similar attractions, the Sliema area needs to be upgraded with improved infrastructure and facilities, as better explained in the attached plan. Part of the sea, especially the area opposite St Anne Square needs to be reclaimed and developed into an attractive public garden, wide promenade, children’s play area, a small ferry terminal with proper public conveniences, slipway for water buses, terminus for buses, tourist coaches, mini cabs, taxis, ticketing booths and other uses.
Once the reclamation is complete it will have multi-benefits for other areas in the vicinity as well. These include the need for the church of Jesus of Nazareth to have its own parvis, like all main churches in other towns and villages; the need to widen the pavement opposite the buildings on the seafront, thus having more free pedestrian access; the need to increase car parking facilities threefold; the need to widen the main road with less crossings which are creating bottlenecks in the traffic junctions.
This would accommodate a “weave-in” system and turn around junctions before and after this stretch of the front so as to avoid traffic congestion.
If the upper part of the road leading to the Fortina Hotel is widened, a large two-storey underground car park beneath the road could be constructed. I calculate the whole area could accommodate more than 1,000 car spaces. Wherever possible, we should consider more underground car parks beneath wide roads like we find in central congested European cities like Paris and Monte Carlo.
With a proper master plan, this new magnificent Sliema waterfront could accommodate the existing facilities for harbour cruises, ferries, etc. in a more organised manner, plus a number of berths for super yachts and a small yacht marina towards the higher part, close to the new local breakwater.
A water feature opposite St Anne Square will continue to embellish the whole waterfront.
It is recommended that the investment should be done through a public- private partnership scheme. I feel confident that after my successful endeavour in creating the Valletta waterfront into a magnificent location, with my proposal we can have another magnificent Sliema waterfront that will be one of the most elegant in the Mediterranean and which will be admired by this and future generations.
11 Comments
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John Meli
Oct 25th 2011, 13:07
The introduction of yacht marina's in our ports is too dangerous, first and foremost would endangers all sort of water-life forms of any port area, just because:
1) It eliminates all marine life form or biota and the destruction of all ecological marine communities that live and breed in such particular area due to pollution of more boats than the present time, while they are coming in and out or when their engines are started.
2) All sea life formation will be endangered due to the discharge of diesel, petrol, paints etc., including all sort of unwanted waist coming out undetected by the human eyes from crafts as it often happens in the Msida and Ta' Xbiex Yacht Marina as no one checks these abuses and especially during early mooring stages and manoeuvrings out of pontoons.
3) The coastline contains various cemented and intertwined loosely coiled shells of gastropods (snails) and worms, which are embedded in these coralline algae; now they would be endangered and all existence of marine life will be endangered when this project gets it go ahead, besides that the port is made further smaller.
4) The mainland part is important for natural breeding. Otherwise one can affect individual fish breeding directly by disturbing normal activities such as nesting, spawning or feeding; or from increasing our fish stocks, these includes lacci; argu, mullet; accola; awrata; cawla; cerna; dott abjad/jew tal-faxxi; hazir tal fond, makku, vopi etc.
5) If one looks under the seabed under the material one could also discover old historical cannons as this was an important berth site of old sailing ships that had an old naval history.
6) The area has a lot of vegetation and other life form such as the natural breeding/spawning of small shrimps, works, squids, octopus, and others, these will be destroyed for ever and it takes years and years to breed more in this area only.
7) The area is very close to the residential area (25m), subject to the worst winds coming from (Manoel Island point of Lazzaretto creek; the north wind. This makes big yachts impossible to be steady and unprotected, thus making a banging noise through their mast ropes/wires when the wind is heavy, producing horrible noises that won’t let residents sleep at night. Just watch the temporary yachts that berth opposite the Church and the Old Water Distillation plant of Sliema.
For these reasons, in my opinion with the amount of parking spaces as projected and as designed they are too close for drivers to manage in and out of parking spaces as indicated in this project.
Furthermore, the designer failed to include the spaces where bus terminus and the Tourist Terminus of the Hop-on and Hop-off where they could be parked. Besides the design had not taken into consideration the bus lane which is needed for buses.
It also looks from this design that Tower Road from near the former Alambra Flats or Sliema Wanders FC will be also turned into a pedestrian zone and would make bus trips towards St. Julians and other area's much longer trip than that of the present service by ten minutes and even more.....
Joseph Ellul
Oct 12th 2011, 06:07
Forget it !! Sliema is already overdeveloped and underserviced not to mention the winter stink after the heavy deluge. Ayyway, in the present financial situation that the EU is in, you have Buckley's.
James Wightman
Oct 11th 2011, 22:51
You couldn't fit a canoe club in that lot could you?
FRANS H SAID
Oct 11th 2011, 15:43
Dear Angelo - forget it, the government will never accept any of your suggestions. You are not a member of the PN clan. Good (on paper) as your ideas seem to be, they will not acceptable. Mind you, if you propose a Piano monstrosity, they shall provide even more that the 400 million being spent behind our backs.
Now expect some official statement that will claim that there has always been a plan in the offing. No minister will accept that the man in the street can have some good ideas.
G G Debono
Oct 11th 2011, 10:59
RE “………………the need to increase car parking facilities threefold; the need to widen the main road with less crossings which are creating bottlenecks in the traffic junctions………….”
Here we go again !
increased car parking facilities + fewer crossings = more traffic, more pollution and fewer people
No thanks - this is the usual car-orientated way of thinking. If this area is to be attractive the “motorway” conditions of traffic have to be decreased rather than increased.
Also “the famous St Tropez in the south of France” is not on a motorway-type road - and that is part of its attraction.
FRANS H SAID
Oct 11th 2011, 15:52
Mr Debono, do you know you might even be right? With Arriva who needs a private car?
Wake up man. We are now living in the 21st century and business, ergo employment, will only be created when there is ample parking spaces. Pollution results from OLD and JUNK cars on the road going round in circles. With proper planning car movement will be reduced. Do not confuse the number of cars with vehicle movement.
G G Debono
Oct 12th 2011, 01:49
To……………………………………………………..FRANS H SAID
RE …………………….With Arriva who needs a private car?
Well, Frans, you might have a point there…………………………But
Re “……….We are now living in the 21st century….”
Precisely ! And Malta is stuck in the early -20th century. Modern European towns are doing everything to cut down on urban motor traffic and (guess what?) doing everything to encourage people to cycle (healthily ) to work and shop & so on. Even London !
If you ever actually worked/lived abroad you would see it.
If the distance was not too great, people many just got on their bike and cycled to work. Or they got on the train & did the last bit from the railway station to work. by bike (if you’ve ever been abroad you may have wondered what those forests of parked bikes were doing outside railway stations. Etc etc etc
I cycled to work even when I was a company director in Denmark in spite of the fact that I had a free company car (a BMW no less) and free petrol on a company credit card…. Lots of people cycled to work, one of our secretaries even used to skate to work and one guy used to lang-lauf ski to work in winter. They were a healthy jolly bunch there. In Malta we’d call them mad of course – but they were a darn sight happier and healthier people .
Now that is what I call modern, you know, brave new world stuff - - - what do you think?
We’re just a bunch of softie fuddy-duddies here – and we have the highest rate of obesity (after doughnut munching, fossil-fuel addicted USA). Travelling in any way other than car is alien to us – we’re just so so old fashioned.
Now what do you call 21st Century ?
Get real and modern, man !
James Wightman
Oct 12th 2011, 07:29
Frans, wake up. The BUSINESSES in Bizassa Street seem to disagree they WANTED a pederstrian environment so much so they didn't even want Arriva.
The only place you can buy something in a car is a McD's drive through.
Further more your at critical mass right now so don't you confuse number of cars with vehicle movement. Clearly at the moment cars are doing a pretty good job of stopping that themselves, and it can only get worse as new drivers (as is their right) enter the fray.
Modern thought is much toward getting rid of as many private cars as possible (unfortunately) or at least discouraging their use (why do you think the switch to Arriva was so important for our transport planners)and there will come a time when only the well off will be able to afford a car much like Singapore.
Mr Andrew Scicluna
Oct 11th 2011, 09:57
Dear Mr.Xuereb,
Whilst your ambitious plan for the Strand might sound perfect on paper, may I kindly advise you to exercise caution when comparing Sliema to St.Tropez. Hopefully the major of St.Tropez will never come across this article.
Having both lived in Sliema and visited St.Tropez, may I assure the public that the two do not have (and will never have) anything in common. I don't recall seeing monstrous 7 story blocks of concrete in St.Tropez. Neither have I seen a shabby red light district a stone throw’s away. I will post this link and let the public decide:
http://web.france.com/system/files/images/Saint-Tropez%2Bcities.jpg
Andrew Scicluna,
Belgium
Mr Carmelo Aquilina
Oct 11th 2011, 11:56
absolutely agree Mr Scicluna - the beauty of the French costal towns is not just the promenade but preserving the beautiful houses along the sea front and not surrender to a bunch of speculative developers like we did in sliema...
Mr W Cassar
Oct 11th 2011, 09:41
What about Bugibba? .......Sliema has had enough spent on it!