[WATCH] Updated | PA heckled by angry crowd during meeting on Paceville masterplan

Activists insist Paceville masterplan must be completely scrapped

The Planning Authority's attempt to sell its controversial Paceville masterplan to the public fell short, as its officials were roundly jeered throughout a consultation meeting. 

The two-hour meeting at the Le Meridien Hotel instantly started off on a foul note, with the crowd flat-out resisting the PA's attempts to split them into different groups, based on whether they were St Julians residents, Swieqi residents, Pembroke residents, businesses, or activists. 

"We will not fall for divide and conquer tactics," one person shouted. "We will all stay together as a holistic approach," another said, in a clear dig at the PA's lingo.

Some 250 people attended the meeting, including Opposition MPs Marthese Portelli and Ryan Callus, AD leader Arnold Cassola, Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti, and several residents and activists.

At one point, PA executive chairperson Johann Buttigieg was forced to deny that the PA was serving the interests of developers. 

"If that were the case, then we wouldn't even have organised public consultation sessions," he said, while insisting that nothing in the masterplan was cast in stone and that all suggestions and complaints will be analyzed.

Planning Authority officials present the Paceville masterplan

Here, activist Andre Callus interjected to state that the masterplan was designed in the interests if the developers.

"Not a single resident has spoken in favour of the masterplan. Your only option now is to go to your office tomorrow morning and draft a statement to announce that the masterplan has been scrapped."

PA official Joe Gauci's presentation of the masterplan was greeted by mocking jeers, particularly when photomontages of the nine proposed skyscrapers and the proposed new plaza popped up on the screen.

"Horrible!" one person shouted out. "Can we thank the gentleman for this speech, half an hour wasted," shouted another.

Gauci said that the masterplan will create high-quality public places will encourage people to stay outside in a high-quality environment, improve the quality of the waterfront, and give Paceville a sense of identity.

"The underlying theme is quality," Gauci said to shouts that development will "only benefit wealthy people who have found their Gold Coast".

During the meeting, St Julians resident and TV presenter Moira Delia warned that her block of apartment will be expropriated so as to improve the view, while fellow residents Rita Dalli and Carmen Azzopardi warned that their homes will be expropriated to make way for a basement car park. 

"What will happen to us? Nobody had informed us about anything; you cannot draft plans over people's properties and expect no one to speak up," Azzopardi said.

A businessman who operates in Triq Santu Wistin warned that the plan will see his shop destroyed to make way for a new business centre.

Indeed, Philip Fenech, president of the GRTU’s leisure section, warned that the masterplan will see around 30 businesses expropriated, the majority of which are located by the proposed Mercury House skyscraper.

“We are not scared of competition and are in favour of further development in the area, but new players should not be brought in at the expense of expropriating the already-established ones,” he said.  

St Julian's resident Miguel Spiteri warned that it will create a traffic nightmare, even if a proposed tunnel underneath Regional Road is constructed. Here, PA executive Buttigieg insisted that everything is open to consultation and that nothing is cast in stone. 

"The plan indicates how traffic will be solved. You can agree or disagree with it, but everyone is free to come up with alternatives.

"If there are mistakes, then please highlight them," he said to heckles from the crowd that the consultants were paid for nothing.

AD leader Arnold Cassola said that the plan is fundamentally flawed given that it starts from the premise that the proposed skyscrapers will all be built. 

"Do you want sea near Portomaso to be reclaimed, for the coast at Cresta Quay to be developed and for traffic to increase?" he asked the cheering crowd. "The people should have been consulted before the plan was drafted up."

St Julians vice mayor Albert Buttigieg lambasted the masterplan as a desktop exercise that only safeguards the interests of a few developers, and shuns those of residents and businesses.

"Some 30 businesses could go out of business, and sone people will be evacuated for the sake of fat cats trying to become fatter."

He also criticised them for organising the meeting at the Meridien, suggesting it was a tactic aimed at discouraging elderly Paceville residents from attending. He questioned whether Paceville residents will be made to live in a construction site for the next eight years, criticised the PA for not conducting studies on the proposed land reclamation and extension of St George's Bay.

Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat questioned whether the PA has any plans to safeguard Swieqi residents from the increased flow of people to Paceville, and warned that residences and jobs envisaged in the masterplan will largely be taken up by foreigners.

"Do we know where we are heading to and do we want to go there?" he asked.

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar president Astrid Vella asked for a show of hands from the audience from those in favour of scrapping the masterplan. 

"That's a majority, so taking thus to a second round of consultation would be pointless," she said.

Malta Developers' Association official Pierre Galea urged the country to welcome progress, and, over shouts, insisted that the masterplan was not designed to appease developers. "Indeed, some of our members will be impacted badly by this masterplan," he said, "At least the PA has given us a masterplan."

'Masterplan is fundamentally flawed and must be scrapped'

The meeting was preceded by a press conference if activists and Paceville residents, who gad gathered at Balluta Bay to condemn the proposed masterplan and to urge the Planning Authority to scrap it entirely.

Activist Erica Schembri lambasted the masterplan as "structurally flawed", arguing that it was based purely on the interests of the developers who have proposed high-rise buildings in Paceville. Moreover, it proposes development 15 metres of the coast, which is in breach of the public domain law that was passed in Parliament earlier this year. 

"The masterplan should be based on the wellbeing of residents and the environment, it should be in conformity with the law, and it should be a national plan that takes into account the surrounding towns," she said.

Andre Callus noted that PA executive chairman Johann Buttigieg had himself admitted telling consultants Mott MacDonald to draft the masterplan based on the nine high-rise buildings that have been proposed for Paceville.

"The mere fact that this masterplan has seen the light of day is in itself very worrying. If it s approved, it will create a very ugly precedent whereby a small group of elite people can simple lock themselves up in a room and make decisions that will radically impact the lives of people."

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar official Tara Cassar warned that the masterplan will see the taxpayer fork out some €151 million for expropriation of private property, while St George's Park resident Noel Buttigieg Scicluna compared it to development that used to take place under Napoleon and Mussolini.

A protest against the masterplan, organised by Kamp Emergenza Ambjent, will be held on Saturday at 10:30am at Spinola Bay.