[WATCH] Consultation meeting highlights Paceville residents’ discontent at proposed master plan

Residents of Paceville, St Julians, Swieqi and Pembroke expressed their opposition to the proposed master plan for Paceville – and their frustration at the ‘failure’ of the St Julian’s local council to take a clear stand on the issue – in a consultation meeting Friday evening at the Millenium Chapel hall in Paceville.

The meeting was called by the local council and Kamp Emergenza Ambjent (KEA) and was attended by around 200 people, with many residents – Maltese and foreigners – expressing their disbelief and anguish at many of the proposals included in the master plan.

One of the most contentious issues discussed was the expropriation of private residences and businesses which, according to the plan, stand to be handed over private companies for re-development, when expropriation usually involved property taken over by government or for public use.

St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli said that the local council had asked for

KEA’s Erica Schembri said that small businesses were sure to suffer if the proposed master plan was implemented as is, since they could not be accepted to compete with huge multi-national companies, even if they managed to fall outside areas earmarked for expropriation.

She stressed that the group was not against any master plan but against this one as presented, as it practically ignored residents, their interests and the impact of the proposed development on the community.

The master plan, she said, had identified nine sites which it approved for high-rise development of 18 buildings, with the possibility of a further ten towers.

Schembri said KEA could not understand why only a Paceville master plan was drawn up, while none had been presented for Sliema or other areas.

"Moreover, this plan is simply a Christmas list for the developers involved, whereas the residents are hardly even mentioned," she said.

She noted that the master plan stipulated that the buildings on the area earmarked for land reclamation could be up to 60m high, when low-rise development was normally only 40m high.

Schembri said that KEA was planning to launch a campaign against the master plan and that it planned to hold its first press conference on Wednesday, 12 November.

KEA’s Andre’ Callus invited other NGOs and entities to join KEA in the press conference to make a public and official declaration of their opposition to the master plan.

He invited residents and individuals who were prepared to assist in the planning and implementation of the campaign, to come forward and not leave everything to four or five people to organise.

Albert Buttigieg, St Julian’s deputy mayor, re-asserted his support of a master plan as long it was sustainable and did not lead the locality to ruin.

This plan lacked a social impact assessment to determine how the development could affect residents, he said.

Claire Bonello, on behalf of Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), said that legislation on public domain clearly stated that the first 15m of foreshore had to be accessible to the public.

“This master plan, on the other hand, not only ignores this stipulation, but also identifies areas in Portomaso and at Dragonara for land reclamation, making the coast totally inaccessible,” she said.

Alternattiva Demokratika’s Arnold Cassola called for direct action as this alone seemed to be able to bring about change, as had been demonstrated in the case of Manoel Island.

“This master plan should not only be put on hold, it should be permanently discarded,” he said.

A resident of St George’s Park said that a legal team should be gathered to counter the Planning Authority’s actions, especially since its CEO had already declared there would no further public consultation after the second version of the master plan is published.

Another resident said that as a resident living close to the Intercontinental Hotel, she was extremely worried because the master plan indicated that her house, as well as the other in her street, would be expropriated because a tertiary road was planned to pass over their house and feed an underground car park.

Phylis Camilleri said that the face of Malta was changing all over the country as village cores were losing their character and being replaced by modern development.

Francesca Gatt, of Swieqi, said called on the local councils of St Julian’s, Pembroke and Swieqi to get together and present a united front against this master plan.

One Italian who has been residing in Malta for decades said that this master plan should not be allowed to be implemented.

“If we allow this to go on, all Malta will be destroyed,” he said. “Already, we are seeing this, there is already an application for more high-rise dvelopment in the site of the former Jerma Palace hotel (in Marsascala).”

A Danish resident of St George’s Park said that this was the first time he had ever encountered a case where private land and property would be expropriated and handed over to other private companies for development.

Dr Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, former Malta ambassador to Brussels, said that the plan seemed to give the impressions that St George’s Bay was only the sandy beach and it was in fact proposing that the area dedicated to the sandy beach be doubled.

Former mayor – and now Nationalist MP – Karl Gouder invited all those present to attend a meeting in parliament on Wednesday, where the two foreign consultants that had drawn up the master plan, would be present to answer questions by the committee members and the public.

Matthew Camilleri said that the Pendergardens development in Paceville, which had already been going on for eight years, had caused great disruption in the locality and the surrounding area.

“How much greater a disruption will this development cause, especially since this country is not used to the construction of such tall buildings?” he asked.

Another foreign resident said she had expected thousands to turn up for the consultation meeting, especially since the PA was paying for full-page newspaper adverts to turn people to its way of thinking.