Valletta to get a €24,000 tables and chairs 'master plan'

A contract to design a master plan of how chairs and tables should be laid out in Merchants Street and adjoining roads in Valletta has been awarded to an architecture firm for €24,000.

The contract was awarded to Doric Studio, a regular recipient of government contracts that, a year earlier, was facing legal action instituted by Infrastructure Malta over its failure to maintain a green wall of plants next to the Marsa-Ħamrun bypass.

The master plan contract, originally valued at €125,000, was awarded through a tendering process, with Doric Studio securing the deal after offering to provide the service for a fifth of the estimated value.

The estimated value of the Lands Authority contract was “based on market research”. However, higher bids were not discounted by the regulator.

The tender was published in February last year and awarded in October, with the results published last week. The master plan should be delivered within 16 weeks of the contract coming into effect.

News of the awarding came just days ahead of the ombudsman urging the government to act against the “unchecked spread of tables, chairs and related furniture in public areas”, calling the take-up of public pavements by catering establishments a “systemic issue”.

At the time of its publication, the tender asked bidders to devise a plan that would “make the most of the space available” while leaving room for pedestrians and vehicles, including emergency vehicles, which have occasionally struggled to access the site of accidents after being blocked by street furniture.

Tables and chairs along Merchants Street, Valletta. Photo: Matthew Bonanno.

Complaints

The requested master plan was aimed at creating an aesthetic consistent with Merchants Street and parallel roads, in particular heritage buildings, while creating “visual corridors” allowing for unobstructed views of the area.

Outdoor street furniture should be easily removable, with umbrellas set in stand-alone bases and not fixed to the ground, and any platforms to be removable and made of wood.

It remains to be seen whether the master plan will allay the fears of residents and activists, who have long complained that pedestrian routes and emergency vehicle access have been negatively impacted by encroachment on public space by catering establishments.

In 2023, the University of Malta lodged a judicial protest against the Valletta local council, accusing it of allowing Merchants Street to descend into chaos. The same year, the ombudsman made a number of recommendations to parliament on the topic.

Videos showing ambulances attempting to squeeze past dining tourists have been shared online over the years, with the capital seeing regular protests by concerned residents and NGOs.