Updated Thursday 3pm

Sliema residents have reacted with anger to the closure of a busy side street, which has been blocked to allow for the installation of a large crane by  developers.

According to residents, work to install the crane - intended for at least one major project by mega-developer Carlo Stivala - began around a week ago, leading to the closure of Triq San Vincenz. 

Residents are also complaining about the removal of nine parking bays on nearby Triq Lawrenz, which were removed to accommodate two-way traffic on the formerly one-way street due to the closure of Triq San Vincenz.

“We’re living in the middle of a construction site,” said Carmel Joseph Farrugia, a resident of the street.

“[The crane] should not have been put here: it’s one of the narrowest streets in Sliema. It should have been placed somewhere else,” he said.

Farrugia also raised concerns about rainwater runoff. His fears were echoed by other residents who posted in a Sliema-focused Facebook group, where one resident questioned whether the council would refund them for any possible damages.

“Did anyone from the local council ever see the enormous amount of water that flows through the Strand from St Vincent Street? Where is it all going to go?” she asked.

The removal of nine parking bays on nearby Triq Lawrenz has also angered residents. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

Meanwhile, another resident highlighted the “poor businesses and homes [the crane] has blocked in”.

Calling for “minimum distance requirements and safety considerations”, she said workers on site would be “practically looking into the first floor ... it’s utterly disgusting and disgraceful”.

Another said the crane's placement showed “total disregard to residents and anyone wanting to drive through this street... the developer should find another way to build his block and not cause such an inconvenience for two to three years”.

Numerous residents said they had received no information from the local council about the issue.

Meanwhile, one local business owner told Times of Malta the crane was a “horrible inconvenience", while calling the nearby imminent hotel development an “ordeal” they had been anticipating for years.

“Now that it’s started, I hope it’s over soon,” the business owner said, adding attempts to mitigate rainwater runoff appeared to have been made in the last few days with workers seen digging a trench to carry water down the street.

The crane will be used for a project at the end of the street, according to both Stivala – who confirmed its use in comments to Times of Malta – and Planning Authority documentation.

A site plan for the crane shows the development site covering the bottom of Triq San Vincenz – while also appearing to cover a separate Stivala development (PA/03229/23) on the corner of nearby Triq San Lunzjata. That planning application is yet to receive approval.

A site plan for the crane shows it being used for development on Triq San Vincenz - while also indicating usage for a separate development on nearby Triq Il-Lunzjata. Graphic: Planning Authority.

In 2018, Stivala successfully applied to add additional floors to the three-storey building currently in place at number eight Triq San Vincenz, creating a nine-floor apartment block (PA/00918/18).

Then in 2023, he applied to build a 15-storey hotel on the same site, as part of a development also spanning numbers four and seven. That application (PA/02965/23) is pending a recommendation from a case officer.

According to the application, much of the demolition is set to be internal, with the existing facades being retained. The proposal includes a restaurant at ground level, meeting and conference rooms at levels one to four, hotel rooms at levels five to 14 and a bar, pool and deck area on the receded floor level.

The proposed building would cover a total floor area of 395 square metres.

On Wednesday, in comments to Times of Malta, Għaqda Residenti Slimiżi questioned why the developer had not been asked to erect the crane within the site itself, as is often done.

"The GħRS also asks why the Sliema Local Council could not have informed the residents of the two streets of the impending works, when GħRS - a residents' group with no resources - has on occasion distributed information leaflets to all Sliema residents."

On Thursday, the Planning Authority said the tower crane had been granted a permit for works on Stivala's development at the corner of nearby Triq il-Lunzjata and Triq ix-Xatt. It noted that a 2016 permit allowing works at the site (PA/6534/16) was valid until June 2027.