Moviment Graffiti issues crowdfunding call to fight db Pembroke extension
Activists aim to raise €7,000 to fight the extension in court
Activist group Moviment Graffiti has appealed for donations to fight a planned 13-storey extension to db Group’s mega-development at the former ITS site overlooking St George’s Bay.
The crowdfunding call follows the Planning Authority last month giving the go-ahead for db Group to extend the two 17-and 18-storey towers to 23- and 25-storeys, respectively, raising the overall height of the project by seven floors.
In a statement Friday, Moviment Graffiti said it would be “seeking to appeal this shameful decision. However, this process entails legal and professional costs that we can only bear through public contributions”.
The organisation aims to raise €7,000 to undertake legal action against the approval, which it said, “makes a complete mockery of the planning process, rendering approved plans meaningless since they can always be intensified through piecemeal applications”.
Calling the project a “monstrosity”, activists said it was important to note that the original permit had been approved on the basis of a plan to construct a tunnel to cope with the additional traffic to the site. “We have since learned that this tunnel will not be built.”
Moviment Graffiti said the project for the two towers at St George’s Bay had been “approved by compromised authorities who ignored tens of thousands of public objections and the strong opposition of three local councils”.
“Now, before the originally approved 17- and 18-storey towers have even been built, they are set to rise to 23 and 25 floors respectively”, the organisation said.
Activists described the developer's history as “one of government-sponsored, endless greed”, charging the group with having “already profited enormously from public land, suffocated residents, damaged the natural environment, and buried historical buildings”.
“We are confident that, with the public’s support, we can once again fight greed and injustice to the very end.”
Those wishing to donate can do so by visiting www.whydonate.com/fundraising/db-monstrosity, or by making a donation to the activist group’s BOV account, the details for which are as follows:
Account name: Moviment Graffitti
IBAN: MT27VALL22013000000011799516027