The lingo used in planning and development can be misleading at times. Take the term ‘mixed development’, which is frequently deployed to mellow the inclusion of residential development within a project sited within a sensitive area for which there would normally be a presumption against such a type of development.
ODZ areas, and those sited in coveted areas such as coastal ones, to boot, are generally spared the bane of residential development. Tourism, as the proverbial sacred cow of the Maltese economy, has traditionally been bestowed with a ‘get out of jail’ card in the form of land concessions in prime coastal areas by virtue of the ‘national’ contribution that tourist facilities, namely hotels, nominally make.
Such has been the norm for most of the low-lying coast along the eastern flank of Malta, peppered as it is with hotels, but also at other postcard localities, including the sandy beaches in the north-west corner of the island. The Ħal Ferħ complex, originally built in the 1980s, straddles the two beaches of Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa, with its low-lying buildings being ensconced within a dense tree canopy.
Plans for the redevelopment of the area, which lies astride government/publicly-owned land, so as to incorporate upmarket, low-rise mixed development, which would invariably include residences, were recently unveiled by Hotel Investments Limited. Such a shifting of the goalposts (given that residential development was previously precluded from the area) would come at the behest of a revision of current development policies prevailing over the same area.
If such a revision sanctions the development of residences at Ħal Ferħ, it would have undermined the very rationale behind the signing off of vast tracts of prime coastal sites to the private tourism sector. The Church’s Environmental Commission rightly denounced such a proposal, which would effectively translate into an extension of the current development boundaries by stealth, as it would plonk residential development within publicly-owned coastal ODZ areas. Let’s call a spade a spade... a move in favour of ‘mixed development’ within tourism-dominated ODZ areas is actually a de facto extension of development zones.
Arson, recklessness rear their heads
Following last year’s bountiful rains, this year will go in the annals as yet another dry year, with our islands barely receiving three-quarters of its average annual rainfall count over the past wet season. No surprises then, that with soaring air temperatures to compound matters further, the countryside is tinder-dry at this time of year and that the slightest spark can trigger a conflagration.
There have been a very high incidence of fires in wooded areas over the past few months. The cause behind some of these fires is known, namely neglect and sloppiness, such as when a couple had a barbecue at l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa or more recently when a presumably public employee burnt dry foliage in the outer perimeter of Park tal-Majjistral close to Manikata.
As a deterrent to arsonists and reckless behaviour in natural areas during the dry season, pecuniary punishment associated with such offences should be ramped up- Alan Deidun
Conversely, the cause behind other fires is unknown, with arson and a discarded cigarette thrown out of a passing vehicle being the most plausible causes. Such is the case involving the burning to a cinder of a swathe of dense maquis along the valley sides leading to Għar Lapsi. Seems that the predilection to scorch natural areas has not fizzled out after the gargantuan fire which consumed almost 5,000 trees at Miżieb last year.
As a deterrent to arsonists and reckless behaviour in natural areas during the dry season, pecuniary punishment associated with such offences should be ramped up, while a public awareness campaign should be embarked upon to instil a greater awareness of the ecological consequences of such actions. Consequences which include the obliteration of scores of indigenous tree saplings and of mature trees and shrubs as well as of an array of indigenous fauna, with the scorched area being left behind as an indelible scar on the natural environment. The ban on the lighting of live fires within wooded areas should also be enforced.
Urban Malta
The recently-launched ‘Atlas of the Human Planet’, courtesy of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), provides ample food for thought as it teases out trends in human settlement as emerging over the last few decades. Perhaps the most significant conclusion within such an Atlas is Malta’s silver spoon when it comes to urbanisation, with our islands considered to host the highest fraction (95 per cent) of any European country population which resides in urban areas.
Clocking in at second and third place behind Malta were the UK (85 per cent) and the Netherlands (82 per cent), respectively. One may counter that this statistic for Malta should not raise that many eyebrows, especially given the restricted confines of the archipelago and the skyrocketing population density. And yet, the publication of this statistic should still make us pause to ponder on how most of us are confined to an urban setting, being exposed to the array of impacts (noise pollution, traffic and poor air quality, lack of greenery, etc.) that this invariably entails.
All the more reason to invest in the greening of our urban communities rather than simply emancipating tree-planting initiatives to rural, remote areas which are rarely visited by the majority of the public.