[WATCH] Pembroke council strikes out against waste station proposed in Paceville masterplan

Pembroke council condemns proposed waste station at Park & Ride.

The Pembroke local council has come out against the construction of a waste transfer station that has been proposed in the controversial masterplan for the regeneration of Paceville.

The masterplan envisages a 1,800 square metres large waste transfer station at the Pembroke Park and Ride. This will be used as an intermediary dumping site for Paceville's waste, prior to it being loaded into larger vehicles, with the intention of freeing Paceville's streets from large vehicles, so as to reduce traffic congestion.

However, Pembroke's Labour mayor Dean Hili told a press conference that the proposal doesn't make sense, and that rubbish vans that collect waste from Paceville can easily travel straight to Maghtab without using Pembroke as a pitstop.

“Millions of euro were spent to upgrade the Coast Road, and it will only take a rubbish truck some fifteen minutes to travel from Paceville to Maghtab,” he said.

He warned that the council will strongly oppose any attempt by the Planning Authority to go ahead with the proposed waste station, as it will be an inconvenience to residents and will harm the view of schedules buildings, including the old Pembroke clocktower. 

The Pembroke local council’s intervention is the latest blow to the Paceville masterplan, that has been criticised harshly by the Opposition, the St Julian’s and Swieqi local councils, residents, businesses, and environmental activists. However, Hili is the first Labour proponent to publicly poke holes in the plan.

Unlike the St Julian’s local council, which has come out against the proposed masterplan, the Pembroke council has chosen not to take a stance in favour or against the masterplan itself.

“We are only concerned with how the masterplan will impact Pembroke,” he said, adding that the council has already urged the PA to conduct a more extensive traffic impact assessment.