The Malta Environment and Planning Authority reform was promised in July 2009. Public money was spent on the Local Plans published in 2006.
These initiatives and EU accession in 2004 should have meant a step change in the quality of development in Malta. We have been promised sustainable development and environmental care.
The political will to apply consistent planning policies and serious enforcement will be put to the test today when the Mepa board will consider PA 2590/09 and PA 3613/10, which plan to impose 103 more apartments on the Sliema waterfront where the old Forestals store is located. The North Harbours Local Plan (NHLP) puts as the main housing issue the “number of approved housing units in the ‘pipeline’ largely satisfy housing need in terms of number of units forecast for the plan period”. This was written about a decade ago and, since, many more empty units have been added to Sliema.
Is it really too late to appeal to common sense and apply lower density with better quality? Adding yet more apartments merely devalues the existing stock…
The North Harbours Local Plan also reported as a major issue “poor quality residential environments eg bad neighbour uses, lack of open/play spaces, overshadowing, dominance of the car and local traffic problems”.
Has anything improved?
The two applications that will be decided upon today are treated jointly but represent half of the original project because PA 4212/09 and PA 6329/08 were raised concurrently by the same applicant as PA 3613/10. The other applications may have been allowed to lapse to keep the scale of the project below Mepa’s threshold for environmental impact assessment. The EU usually demands a screening opinion to justify proceeding without an EIA for high impact projects. There was no reference to this in the report submitted by the case officer.
The NHLP also said: “In the congested areas… the emphasis will be on new housing through rehabilitation and selective redevelopment rather than through extensive building, height relaxation or redesignation of open space”.
The Sliema Residents Association insists that the present interpretation of the height limitations in Sliema is abusive as evidenced by the fact that blocks built in the last decade are taller than those built in the 1990s. The limits set by Mepa are not development rights either, so other factors (such as ventilation, soil sealing and view lines) must be considered. The Forestals site may be due for renewal but that does not mean it has to be enlarged.
PA 2590/09 and PA 3613/10 prompted hundreds of objections which are not properly answered yet. The case officer has recommended permission be granted. So much for public consultation! The Mepa processing was conducted behind closed doors. After three years of waiting for a result, objectors were allowed just two weeks to comment on the final report. This time frame has not allowed objectors a chance to confer or appoint expert representatives. The Mepa planning system evidently favours the applicant.
The owner of Forestals, a past chairman of the Water Services Corporation, Tancred Tabone, complained of “a lack of political will” that is leading Malta into a supply water crisis and told The Times in 2010 that “Malta will run out of water in about five years” (by 2015!). Yet, in 2009, he applied to create more environmental problems by squeezing the maximum number of apartments permitted into his Forestals site. His proposed building will prevent the sea breeze from ventilating Sliema and raise the ambient temperature of the streets behind. It will also cause chaos to the locality for years and devastating noise for the elderly residents of the Charella Home next door.
The 1990 Structure Plan that gave rise to Mepa had as one of its three goals “to radically improve the quality of all aspects of the environment of both urban and rural areas”. Now is the time to prove this. If there is the will.