ADPD: Government must protect green spaces in urban areas

The greening of urban spaces is commendable, but it is likewise important to protect the green spaces currently available in urban areas, the ADPD has said.

“It is important that the open spaces that we currently have in urban areas are safeguarded and if possible enlarged, and not encroached upon,” chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said.

He was addressing a press conference on the site in Gzira where part of a garden was proposed to be taken up by a petrol station.

Last month, the Administrative Review Tribunal annulled a decision by the Lands Authority to reclaim part of a public garden in Gżira, which had been devolved to the Gżira local council.

The decision was hailed as a major victory for the Gżira local council led by mayor Conrad Borg Manche, whose campaign against the relocation of the fuel station to 930sq.m of garden space was supported by an 8,000 strong petition.

ADPD Public Relations Officer Brian Decelis said that there is supposed to be a consensus on the need for green open spaces, especially in urban areas that have been engulfed by intensive development thanks to a policy that prioritises such development to the detriment of the quality of life of people.

“This has been due to the successive governments’ policy of using the Planning Authority to allow savage on almost every single piece of land that developers laid their eyes on. All this damage has been carried out on the basis of a policy that put profit before people: indeed, this is what governments’ ‘business friendly’ policies mean for our towns and village,” he said.

Cacopardo said the country’s urban zones will become more liveable by speeding up the implementation of the policy to reduce the number of cars on our roads, making space for open spaces. “This requires that basic services are, as far as possible, available in our urban zones thereby reducing our dependency on private cars.”