Residents’ groups back NGO call for tougher planning and noise controls

A policy framework has been launched by an NGO calling for tougher planning rules, stronger noise controls and better protection of public spaces. 

Among the most notable proposals by Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is a moratorium on major projects, including apartment and office blocks taller than eight storeys and hotels, until carrying capacity studies are conducted on infrastructure, including water, drainage and public transport systems.

The organisation also proposed the “complete dismantling and re-establishment” of the Building and Construction Authority, saying recommendations drawn up by experts appointed by the authority had never been implemented.

Transport measures include calls for smaller and more frequent electric buses, a nationwide cycling infrastructure and stricter enforcement against polluting and excessively noisy vehicles.

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar presented the framework during a press conference outside Auberge de Castille on Saturday, together with representatives of residents’ groups from St Paul’s Bay, Marsascala, Valletta, Sliema and other localities.

The document includes more than 50 proposed commitments aimed at reforming planning regulations, strengthening heritage protection, improving public participation, reducing car dependency, tightening noise rules and upgrading the public realm.

The press conference was called a week before the general election amid protests by many NGOs and residents that the two main parties' manifestos failed to present convincing proposals to protect the environment. 

Among its proposals are daily escalating permit fees for demolition noise, restrictions on hammering hours, requirements for electric cranes and mixers, and a limit of one demolition permit within a 500-metre radius at any one time.

“This framework goes beyond the idea of balance; we now need protection,” Benjamin Mifsud Scicluna from FAA said. 

"We are at a point where many of these communities feel development is happening to them, not with them.”

Heritage site, trees treated as obstacles

He said heritage sites and trees were increasingly being treated as obstacles rather than assets, while public space was coming under growing pressure.

“We call to recognise that quality of life is something tangible, not abstract. It is the air we breathe every day, the spaces we can access and enjoy with our families, the noise we live with every day, and the traffic we all experience. And the environment we want to pass to future generations.”

Caroline Caruana, from the Marsascala Residents Network, said residents wanted more transparency over plans for a fast ferry service expected to operate from the locality.

“I am here because I want truth, transparency and respect for Marsascala residents,“ she said, adding that studies into the proposed service had still not been published.

She said residents were concerned that what had once been a quiet locality was increasingly being developed around commercial interests.

ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci echoed concerns about development along the coast, speaking about St Paul's Bay and what she described as the loss of open coastal space.

She said private lidos were increasing while free public access to the coast was shrinking.

Momentum candidate and Residenti Beltin spokesperson Billy McBee said Valletta needed stronger protection because of its status as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

He called for the protection of public spaces in a capital overwhelmed by tables and chairs.

McBee said Valletta residents even felt they were being occupied in their private lives as a result of noise pollution.

Astrid Vella, from FAA and the Sliema Residents' Association, also raised concerns about noise from party boats leaving the locality, as well as ongoing construction.

She said proposed land reclamation and plans for a private lido in Sliema fell within Valletta’s proposed buffer zone, and called for an environmental impact assessment.

Joseph Farrugia spoke on behalf of residents in Attard and nearby localities affected by noise from Ta’ Qali. He said that Attard had once been a quiet area, but some residents are now leaving their homes to sleep elsewhere when events are held.

Residents in front of Castille holding placards. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The framework focuses on planning regulations, heritage protection, public participation under the Aarhus Convention, improved transport, reduced car dependency, noise regulation, the public realm and tourism.

FAA said the policies were endorsed by candidates from Momentum, ADPD, the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party.

The proposals included endorsements by Billy McBee, Arnold Cassola, Mark Camilleri Gambin and Pierre Schembri Wismayer from Momentum; Sandra Gauci, Brian Decelis, Carmel Cacopardo, Mario Mallia, Mark Zerafa, Melissa Bagley and Luke Caruana from ADPD; Albert Buttigieg, Anton Mifsud and Luke Said from the Nationalist Party; and Lorna Borg Vassallo and Tania Borg from the Labour Party.

It was the second environmental manifestation on Saturday after Graffitti and residents gathered in Pembroke in protest against a proposed football complex.