Graffitti urges PM to honour Manoel Island pledge ahead of padel courts decision
Activists say plans to sanction 20 illegal courts and build 10 more undermine government's vision for a public park
Moviment Graffitti has called on the Prime Minister to “honour the promise” he made to return Manoel Island to the public ahead of the Planning Authority's decision on the illegal padel courts on Thursday.
The Planning Board will be deciding on whether to sanction 20 illegally built padel courts and allow the construction of an additional ten at Manoel Island’s entrance.
The board hearing was originally scheduled for election week but was deferred at the eleventh hour because the architect of the application could not attend the hearing.
The case officer recommends granting the permit, subject to conditions and a €900 sanctioning fine.
In a statement on Tuesday, Moviment Graffitti said the process surrounding this application and its recommendation for approval “grossly undermine” Government’s plan to turn Manoel Island into a public park after reclaiming it from MIDI after 26 years.
The illegal developments on the site of the ex-Nicholl ground, flagged by members of the public back in March, are the work of businessman Sharlon Pace, president of Gżira FC but who has admitted a personal business interest in the local padel industry.
“This deceitful planning application must be refused outright, not given the Government's blessing of permanence,” Moviment Graffitti said.
The civil society group noted a commercial padel complex “is not the football ground the Gżira community has been asking for,” nor is it compatible with the vision of Manoel Island as a non-commercial space for public wellbeing which the public had expressed through its Post Għalina campaign and the Project Green’s public consultation exercise.
In March, Gżira FC confirmed the club was "undertaking developments" at Nicholl Ground on Manoel Island but insisted the project related specifically to sports facilities within a defined area of government land leased to the club, and should be understood separately from broader proposals concerning other parts of Manoel Island.