I was delighted to read Ivan Padovani’s comments regarding Żonqor in response to my letter about the area being a dump. I agree with all he says... from a romantic perspective.

However we both live in the real world where open spaces are under continuous threat. Mepa makes decisions which at times frankly amaze me when designated areas come under threat from inappropriate developments.

Land is scarce and of course pressures build. So with Żonqor. The area I speak of is large, barren and devoid of infrastructure. However there is enough land here to ensure that the new university fabric can help extend infrastructure in a meaningful way, such that the remaining area may become welcoming – not a horrific burden – to those who wish to ramble.

Open spaces are the lungs of urban and rural communities but they cannot exist unprotected. They need care and work. At present Żonqor is not simply unprotected from the dumpsters. It is uncared for. That is why my eyesight callsit a dump.

The new university should I hope enable the vast area of undeveloped land to be opened up to Maltese and foreigners alike, as yet another possibility for a good day out. Turning the barren into the fertile. That is what I hope the new development will do, which is why I endorse Padavoni’s imagery.

But we must all be pragmatic. Maybe a holiday park might assist if it takes up just a small parcel of land. The university too, so that careful design with respect for the environment will allow the vast bulk of Żonqor to become a true open space where people and their families can come, not the parched desert it is now.

Who knows? It could in time become another centre of environmental excellence which tourists are delighted to score on their maps of Malta and not simply pass it by.