Manoel Island padel courts recommended for approval by PA case officer

A Planning Authority case officer has recommended approving Gżira United FC’s controversial application to reinstate a sports ground on Manoel Island and sanction padel courts illegally built on the site. 

The application, PA/07995/25, filed by Sharlon Pace on behalf of Gżira United FC, seeks full development permission for the “reinstatement of sports ground having variable sports uses with demountable glass structures” at Nicholl Ground, Triq il-Forti Manoel, Gżira.

The case officer is recommending that the permit be granted, subject to conditions and a €900 sanctioning fine.  

According to the case officer’s report, the proposal would see the former football ground refilled to its previous level, enclosed by a one-metre masonry wall and a six-metre protective fence, and divided into 30 padel courts using demountable glass structures.

Twenty of those courts are being proposed for sanctioning, meaning they had already been installed before planning permission was granted.  

The recommendation comes after months of controversy over the works, which were first flagged by Momentum. 

The party questioned how a commercial padel park was being built on Manoel Island while the government was in talks to take over the island and turn it into a national park.  

The Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign later called for the works to be stopped, saying the courts were not covered by a permit and that the development ran counter to the public effort to transform Manoel Island into a national park.

The campaign also filed a complaint with the Planning Authority’s Compliance and Enforcement Directorate.  

The PA subsequently confirmed it was investigating the works, which appeared to be near completion, while the application was still in the screening phase. The application covers an area of around 6,700 square metres.  

Days after a Times of Malta report, the PA halted the works.

Prime Minister Robert Abela had said the site was part of a concession to the football club but stressed that works had to proceed according to law. “I hope a solution is found, not just with regard to this specific issue but the wider issue of what we are going to do with the land pertaining to the football club and ensuring that sports facilities are not removed,” he said at the time.  

Drone footage later released by Moviment Graffitti showed the extent of the padel court complex, with some courts appearing to be at an advanced stage of development.

Graffitti, part of the Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign, said it supported Gżira United having its own facilities but insisted they should form part of the wider masterplan for Manoel Island.  

In the case officer’s report, the Development Management Directorate notes that the site historically accommodated Nicholl Football Ground, which it says is visible in the 1968 survey sheets and was used for training and some MFA minor league matches.

The report says the football ground and the surrounding area were later cleared and excavated following permits granted to MIDI plc.  

The architect argued that the site had always been a sports facility and referred to a 1976 encroachment agreement between the Lands Department and the president of Gżira United Football Club. They also pointed to the government’s announcement that an agreement had been reached with MIDI plc for the termination of the 99-year emphyteutic grant over Manoel Island and Fort Tigné, arguing that the club’s relocation obligations under the previous arrangements would not be honoured by MIDI.  

The case officer accepted that there was uncertainty over the immediate implementation of the Manoel Island Development Brief, and concluded that the proposal would retain the site’s sporting use rather than introduce a fundamentally new use.  

The report says the development is considered temporary and reversible because no new hard-standing facilities or buildings are being proposed, and the glass structures are demountable. On that basis, the Directorate concluded that the proposal would not prejudice the implementation of the Development Brief or future planning parameters for the site.  

Among the proposal's objectors, the Light Pollution Awareness Group warned that external lighting for sports facilities is a major source of light pollution in Malta and proposed a series of mitigation measures, including downward-facing full cut-off lighting, warmer light temperatures, motion sensors where appropriate and an 11pm curfew for lighting.  

However, the Environment and Resources Authority did not object. Noting the site context and the fact that a football pitch used to exist there, ERA said the proposal was not objectionable from an environmental point of view, and no further assessment was required.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage also did not object, but drew attention to the archaeological sensitivity of the area and said that, should the PA approve the application, all further works should be subject to archaeological monitoring.  

The report also states that any cultural heritage features discovered during works must not be disturbed and must be reported immediately to the superintendence. Any geological or palaeontological features, including fissures, caves or Quaternary deposits, must be reported to ERA, and works must stop until investigations are complete.  

The recommendation will now be considered by the Planning Authority board.