If Malta had not been colonised for the last few centuries, we would probably not have any public gardens and few trees. Think about it. How many public gardens of note have been set up since the British left?
It is thanks to the Knights that we enjoy beautiful gardens at Upper Barrakka, Lower Barrakka, all the Floriana gardens as well as San Anton and Romeo Romano gardens. Verdala and Girgenti castles are both set in greenery while Buskett, our only woodland, also owes its existence to the Knights.
The British embellished Hastings gardens and created Villa Rundle Garden, in Gozo. More importantly, they recognised the need for gardens around public buildings like schools and hospitals, showing they were aware of the beneficial, restorative power of greenery. Whenever you see a public building that is surrounded by trees you can bet money it was built during British time. Zammit Clapp Hospital, Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, Junior College and Tal-Qroqq University, planned during British times, come to mind.
The British Services had their own schools and hospitals, so they bothered to invest in gardens for the Maltese simply as an act of good governance. Knowing that human well-being depends on contact with nature, they provided those trees to give children, hospital patients and town residents the means to benefit from nature.
Fast forward 50 years and how many more real public gardens have been created, not cemented playgrounds to be taken over by restaurants, like Pjazza Mattia Preti, in Valletta? Only Independence Gardens and the Santa Luċija Chinese Garden spring to mind, the latter being badly impacted by the new Marsa roads project.
Ta’ Qali grounds are in such a sorry state they hardly qualify to be called a park.
Along with this lack of effort to create new public gardens, we are witnessing the wholesale destruction of urban gardens.
The authorities’ attempts to prevent building in the countryside may have inadvertently had an even more damaging effect, leading developers to switch their attention to lucrative sites with urban areas, old villas whose large gardens formed precious green lungs, so vital to the health of town residents.
Urban gardens are our only means to reduce urban pollution
Already, so many lovely gardens have been lost that one would imagine that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage would go into overdrive to schedule the rest. But that was not the case. Villa Gollcher, a Mosta landmark threatened by development, is not scheduled.
Attard, known for its fine gardens, saw them disappear one by one. Lija, thought to be untouchable, faces the loss of a green lung large enough for a developer to apply to build six townhouses with pools in the garden at Annibale Preca Street.
For some reason it is neither scheduled nor designated as a green enclave, both of which would have provided an element of protection.
Or would they? In Għaxaq, two sites are playing out a ‘Tale of Two Gardens’. Both of these Baroque palazzos and their magnificent gardens were identified for scheduling in 2005, yet, this only materialised in 2013 at the insistence of Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar. The scheduling happily nullified a permit to build flats in the garden and another owner applied to create a tea garden. Although this project will preserve Villa Mekrech’s garden intact, the garden has been inspected by the Superintendence repeatedly.
On the other side of Għaxaq stands the twin palazzo Villino Giannin, which is also supposedly protected by scheduling. Yet, developers are proposing to destroy the very essence of its scheduled Baroque garden – its central path, main pond and other features – to build 30flats there.
In spite of the alarm bells rung by the fact that the architect failed to submit all the required photos or show key heritage features of the garden in the plans, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage still had not submitted its comments months after the application had been published.
A petition was signed by over 100 residents of this little village concerned about the destruction of trees, more traffic and increased risk of flooding. It has now been revealed that part of the site claimed as fully-owned by the applicant in fact belongs to third parties.
Yet, in spite of all this, the Planning Authority continues to process this application to ruin this heritage property, which the 2005 local plan had identified as one of the key cultural attractions of Għaxaq because the PA no longer regulates development but facilitates it.
If this permit is granted, we might as well dismantle all the scheduling process to protect our built heritage as this will set a precedent that can be used to nullify all existing scheduling.
Faced with the present transport crisis causing high levels of pollution, these urban gardens are our only means to reduce urban pollution, which triggers so many health problems. The fact that our politicians care neither about our health nor about our heritage make our disappearing trees and gardens symbolic of the callous mismanagement of this country.
Astrid Vella is coordinator, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece