Updated Thursday 11am with Labour councillors' statement below.

Floriana local council on Wednesday slammed the government's lack of consultation over plans to partially pedestrianise the locality's St Anne Street.

In a statement, the local council said it had just learnt that Environment Minister Miriam Dalli and Project Green's CEO Joseph Cuschieri told the media on Wednesday that a 2025 pilot project will test the feasibility of pedestrianising the road on specific days of the week. 

"The local council expresses strong disapproval, once again, over the lack of discussion about a project linked to Triq Sant' Anna," it said, adding that a meeting it requested with Dalli weeks ago had not yet been held.

The local council last held a meeting with the minister years ago, it added.

At the end of August, Times of Malta reported that plans to reroute traffic through an underpass beneath Floriana’s Triq Sant’Anna had been deemed unfeasible by Project Green. However, ongoing studies hope to find alternative solutions to pedestrianise the areas.

On Wednesday the local council urged for respect in the manner in which government projects were announced and implemented. 

It also called for a discussion with the locality's residents and business community.

Labour councillors say they were not consulted about mayor's statement

In a reaction to the council statement, the Labour councillors of Floriana said the mayor had issued the statement without proper consultation. He had sent them an email seeking their views but then went ahead with the statement without awaiting their reply.

The councillors said that they welcomed projects that could improve the quality of life, as long as there was serious public consultation.