One of the attractions of life in Sliema is its coastal location. The place is busy, but it also abuts a huge expanse of glittering, blue open space. It is pleasant to live near the sea, to walk along the promenade, or to just cross the road for a swim.
Apart from its beauty, the sea provides employment and income. Throughout history, people have always settled along the coast. St Julian’s was once a fishing village. Towns like Valletta, Senglea and Cospicua grew around the harbour for trade dependent on the sea.
Today, our sea attracts tourists. It is so obviously important to safeguard our limited coastal stretches and harbours, for our quality of life, landscape, economy and more. Yet still their destruction and over-exploitation continues relentlessly.
Besides creating many other problems, a cluster of massive high-rise buildings at Tigné will spoil the historic setting of Valletta and its harbours. The Townsquare skyscraper will be visible from the Three Cities. Even if you favour tall buildings, this project is over-sized and completely out of proportion to its surroundings.
The dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral will no longer form the silhouette of Valletta when seen from Vittoriosa. Townsquare behind them will rise above.
Heated battles are fought over every square inch of land in this tiny country. Gżira local council has just filed a judicial protest demanding public access to the foreshore on Manoel Island. It is claiming that coastal access was blocked off during the course of works carried out by developers.
I would go a step further and say that, besides the foreshore, it is a pity that the whole of Manoel Island cannot be left unbuilt, cleaned up and turned into a public park in this highly urbanised area.
A new, rare opportunity for more open coastal area has just surfaced
Sadly, open spaces are a very low priority. Some years ago, the government had taken the big step of designating Natura 2000 sites in Malta and Gozo, amounting to 13 per cent of our total terrestrial area, largely along the coast in the north and northwest. Other protected sites in the northwest of Malta include the Majjistral Park, created in 2007.
Since then, hardly any further natural areas have been identified for protection. All energies are geared towards construction. The Nwadar Park near Xgħajra has been presented as compensation for the planned destruction of the Żonqor coast, but in actual fact this was already earmarked in the local plans of 2006.
Residents of the south of Malta have long complained of overdevelopment and industrialisation. But the Marsascala mayor and members of the local council supported government plans to hand over land at Żonqor to a foreign university, when this could easily have been sited elsewhere. Apparently the developer also offered to pay for some new council offices if the permit is granted.
Now that the first phase of this university is going ahead at Cospicua, why not identify some more historic buildings for the entire project to be located there? The area is crying out for regeneration and investment.
It is simply not credible that the CEO’s office at Mepa recommended ODZ coastal land at Żonqor as the best planning solution for this. So much for the sensitive regeneration of the south – grab any remaining bits of land and develop them too. The vision and standards of our planners are pitiful.
A new, rare opportunity for more open coastal area has just surfaced. The Jerma Palace Hotel is to be demolished, after lying in a derelict and dangerous state for years. In spite of pressure by a PN councillor to persuade the Marsascala local council to support reinstating this coastal area for public use, the mayor and some other members voted against.
Now the same motion will be presented to the so-called Consultative Council of the South, chaired by Silvio Parnis. Don’t hold your breath, as like the Marsascala mayor, this committee also did not loudly object to the unnecessary destruction of coastal land at Żonqor.
Even further south, the local councils of Marsaxlokk and Birżebbugia are saying nothing much at all about the imminent arrival of an enormous gas storage tanker to be berthed along the coast at Delimara.
I would have expected them to be insisting on a second interconnector or a gas pipeline, or more alternative energy projects. Instead they are meekly accepting 18 years, at the very least, of a massive gas tanker sitting right inside their bay. The electricity supply seems fine without it, and prices have already been reduced. Yet they are not even demanding that the developers publish their maritime risk assessment.
It is understandable that the residents of the south of Malta feel deprived of open spaces. It is harder to accept that their local councils say so little in their defence.
Sliema local council, on other hand, is currently battling tooth and nail against the Planning Authority, recognising the difficulties and inconvenience that a mass of oversized skyscrapers at Tigné will inflict on its community. I hope that the residents of Sliema will rally around their council to support its uphill struggle.
petracdingli@gmail.com