PA advice to approve Manoel Island courts is 'shameful', NGO says

A Planning Authority case officer's recommendation to approve Manoel Island padel courts contradicts the government's promised vision of Manoel Island as a park, Moviment Graffitti said on Friday.

The PA's case officer recommended sanctioning the half-built courts and fining the operators €900. 

"The Planning Authority's behaviour is both shameful and embarrassing for government, as the case officer report has been filed at the same time that Project Green is celebrating the conclusion of its public consultation exercise on the future of three new public parks, including Manoel Island," the activists' statement read. 

The NGO's condemnation comes after 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 PA's positive recommendation comes after months of controversy over the works, which were first flagged by Momentum. 

In a statement, the party's election candidate Matthew Agius described the €900 penalty as an "insult when these padel courts can generate that amount in revenue in a single day”. 

The NGO said the courts are being developed by Pace, who is the president of Gżira's football club but has admitted he has a personal business interest in promoting padel courts, thereby deviating from his responsibility towards the town’s football community.

The NGO said that while the Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign has always stated its support for the Gżira football community to be allocated an appropriate space for its activities, this must still be done within an overarching framework for Manoel Island.

"A for-profit padel complex is not the football ground the Gżira community has been asking for, and nor is it compatible with this vision of Manoel Island as a national park," the statement read.

"Will Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, Lands Minister Owen Bonnici and the CEO of the PA, Johann Buttigieg, undermine this vision?"

The NGO said public consultation exercises are farcical if "friends of friends" are allowed concessions at the public's expense. 

"Pace would be expected to pay a measly €900 for concreting over our cultural heritage, both figuratively and literally. Numerous archaeological remains dating back to the classical period are documented from the area Pace have been paved with padel courts."

The NGO also called out the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, who seems to have no concern that the oldest pieces of evidence of human activity have been found in the area. 

The statement slammed the Prime Minister for previously stating that the government's vision for Manoel Island is aligned with that of the Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign, yet the authorities' actions seem to tell a different story. 

Graffitti called on the Prime Minister and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, to take appropriate action to rectify the damage that is being done to the site and the government's own reputation regarding its promise to deliver a park for the people.