Controversial Mosta kiosk gets the thumbs-down

The Government Property Department (GPD) has withdrawn its tentative approval for a controversial kiosk in the Mosta Dome area where an underground car park for some 350 is now being planned.

The kiosk, which was to be constructed in Rotunda Square directly outside the Church, was finally rejected in a letter to architect Joseph Attard on Friday. 

The letter from the GPD informed Attard that it would “not be possible for the necessary final clearance/allocation for the proposed kiosk to be granted” and therefore encouraged him to take the necessary action so as not to burden his client “with unnecessary expenses”.

The application “to place a dismountable/mobile kiosk and fixing of signage” was filed with the Planning Authority in January by Manuel Vella.

It was immediately clear from the drawings submitted that the kiosk did not look anything like a mobile or dismountable one, but instead was a solid fixed structure: a structure 5.78m wide and 4m high, made of lacquered wood, copper cladding and glazed windows.

On 16 August, the GDP had issued its ‘clearance in principle’ to the applicant’s request, but the application immediately came under fire as the local council, residents and a number of other entities, expressed their opposition to the proposed kiosk.

On 7 September, the local council formally objected to the kiosk – because the area was used not just by the public, but voluntary organisations and two local fireworks clubs as well, who used the area during the Santa Marija feast days.

Crucially perhaps, it also claimed that a kiosk would be an eyesore right next to such a world-renowned monument as the Mosta Dome.

Elderly residents speaking to MaltaToday at Rotunda Square were particularly incensed at the idea of a kiosk cropping up next to the church, which is one of the few sites where they feel they can gather and relax on a bench in safety.

“Besides being an eyesore and taking away a public space where we meet every evening, it would also be an obstruction for people using the busy zebra crossing,” said one irate resident, Mario Galea.

“We know who is behind this application, and they are being backed by a member of parliament,” he also claimed.

But a business owner, who operates a small shop in the square, said he too did not oppose the idea. “There are already so many other businesses, shops and food outlets in the area, even on the pavement on the other side of the church. Another one will not make a difference to me,” he said. 

Mayor Edwin Vassallo however told MaltaToday the council could not accept that public land – used by Mosta residents, visitors and tourists – would be given to someone for development. “It is evident from the drawings submitted by the applicant himself that this kiosk was not mobile at all but a fixed one,” Vassallo said.

Alex Muscat, Labour Party minority leader, also voiced his objection to the proposed kiosk. “I was totally, and without reserve, against this application,” he said. “I immediately denounced it in public because I felt it would be wrong to have a kiosk, practically on the parvis of a monument like the Mosta Dome.”

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage also told the PA about the kiosk that: “the proposed development would increase visual and material clutter within the piazza and would have a negative impact on visual perception of the iconic Mosta Parish Church”.

And finally the Malta Tourism Authority was even clearer: “Licenses for new kiosks on government-owned land are not being considered at present unless the kiosk is part of a larger proposal that benefits the community in the relative local council.”