Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar has questioned why the Planning Authority and Superintendence of Cultural Heritage have been dragging their feet for five years to decide on scheduling Sliema's Fort Cambridge.
The eNGO was referring to a story published in Times of Malta which revealed that a decision to grant the highest level of protection to the only remaining part of the barracks built during the British era has been pending for five years.
The site is now at the centre of an application to demolish the interior of the historic building, keeping just its façade which will be overshadowed by a 31-storey tower.
Documents seen by Times of Malta show that the Planning Authority had received the request to schedule the remaining parts of the barracks from the Sliema local council in August 2015.
In a statement on Monday, the FAA commended the government for purchasing Villa Guardamangia, the Queen’s only place of residence outside the UK, which is to be restored by Heritage Malta.
It said it was particularly pleased with Culture Minister José Herrera’s assertion that the government will acquire more assets with socio-political significance in the future, and that protection should go beyond the property itself to preserve its context.
This is what FAA has been calling for in its campaign to reverse the privatisation of Manoel Island, which would be of far greater benefit as a wooded heritage park, than as an enclave of yet more luxury apartments, the NGO said.
The FAA also referred to another Times of Malta story which quoted objections by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage to the application to sanction illegal structures at Il-Fortizza, Sliema, insisting that the “circus-like” additions be removed.
'Landmark building' - PA development brief
FAA said Fort Cambridge merited protection as even the PA’s own 2006 Fort Cambridge Development Brief had described the barracks as a “landmark building” to be retained due to its historical and architectural importance.
It said the developers’ own environmental impact assessment report warned that integration of the historic facade into the lower floors of a high-rise hotel means its “mere existence as a free-standing structure will be forever lost” and the military heritage of the area “further de-contextualised”.
According to FAA, retaining the façade while constructing a towering building behind it “made a mockery of one of Sliema’s few surviving landmarks”.
“Are our top heritage protection bodies yet again giving developers’ interests precedence over our heritage, social needs and the future of our tourism," FAA coordinator Astrid Vella asked.
"Their tacit refusal to schedule this historic building amounts to cultural vandalism, a blow to our national identity and an insult to the Local Council and the 525 objectors who have called for its protection,” she said.
She called on Herrera, who is responsible for National Heritage, to ensure that this building is scheduled, restored and only allowed sensitive adaptive reuse.