Some 30 Paceville business owners fear their properties could be expropriated to accommodate a new master plan, the Times of Malta has learnt.
More than a hundred Paceville-based entrepreneurs met with Chris Borg, the director of the Planning Directorate, last week to discuss the Planning Authority’s master plan for the area and how it would affect their businesses.
During the meeting, organised by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, several entrepreneurs asked why they should lose part or all their property to make way for new walkways and public spaces.
The holistic planning strategy, which includes the revamp of open spaces and the creation of new ones, better traffic management and a tall-building policy, was announced in September.
It requires a financial outlay of about €300 million and proposes the location of a cluster of high-rise buildings in descending order, with the lowest being nearer to the coast and the highest in the heart of Paceville.
GRTU members mostly in favour of reorganisation
Philip Fenech, president of the chamber’s tourism and hospitality section, told the Times of Malta that he had been inundated with concerns of this nature from GRTU members.
“There have been a number of people, around 30, who have raised concerns of expropriation. They want to know what is going to happen,” he said.
A PA spokesman told this newspaper that it was still receiving feedback on the master plan and a detailed report would be made public once the consultation period was over.
Earlier this month, Nationalist Party MP Marthese Portelli raised concerns people could lose their private property through road developments and other infrastructural projects as mapped out in the master plan. She asked what compensation would be given and why it was needed in the first place. “What worries me is that a number of expropriations will occur, which would mean large amounts of funds would be paid out,” she said.
Mr Fenech said despite expropriation concerns, the GRTU’s members were mostly in favour of reorganising the area. He said that during the meeting, many who owned businesses in Paceville said that it desperately required better management.
“The need for improved security is often raised, and this was also the case at this meeting,” he said.
Other matters raised included refuse collection and delivery times and access, as well as the access available for transport companies. Separate from the master plan, Transport Malta has commissioned the construction of a Regional Road tunnel, which is expected to divert as much as 60 per cent of traffic from the Paceville area.
The master plan includes suggestions for subterranean parking bays and other parking solutions for high-rise developments, new hotels and entertainment venues. It also includes recommendations for cycle lanes and a tramline.
Mr Fenech said that many of his members were excited by the prospect of a revamped transport network in the area, while others asked why such a bustling business environment was being tampered with.