Updated 1pm

Residents, activists and two mayors gathered at St George’s Bay on Saturday to protest against plans to revise the area’s local plan and allow a massive project to go ahead at the Villa Rosa site.

“When will you finally show us some respect? We’re not idiots,” Matthew Brincat, a Pembroke resident who addressed the demonstration said of politicians.

“We don’t want residents to be choked. They’re already impacted as things stand. Imagine the traffic, the dust, the noise, the trucks. When are we going to say it is enough? Enough is enough.”

Among those spotted in the crowds were the mayor of Swieqi Noel Muscat and St Julian's deputy mayor Sean Gauci, five PN MPs - Stanley Zammit, Rebekah Borg, Albert Buttigieg, Graham Bencini and Karol Aquilina - ADPD leader Sandra Gauci and secretary general Ralph Cassar, independent candidate Arnold Cassola and former Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer.

There was no representative of the Pembroke local council, after it unanimously voted to avoid protesting.

Demonstrators gathered at St George's Bay on Saturday morning, with Villa Rosa in the background. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Moviment Graffitti activist Andre Callus said their opposition would continue even after the Saturday event. 

"This battle will not end here, because we care. We know it's a difficult battle, but it will continue," he said.   

Why are demonstrators protesting?

The local plan revision is happening at the instruction of Robert Abela’s cabinet and follows lobbying by developer Anton Camilleri, known as Tal-Franċiz.

Camilleri is the owner of the Villa Rosa site and in 2018 obtained a permit to build a combination of villas and offices in the area, with a hotel at the Cresta Quay site nearby.

He subsequently revised those plans, instead proposing to build three towers housing five-star hotels on the site. The proposal seeks to take advantage of a hotels policy that allows buildings to rise far above local plan height limitations if they are considered to be of ‘landmark’ value.

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Earlier this month, the Planning Authority announced plans to revise the area's local plan. Times of Malta subsequently revealed that the revision objectives were replicated, almost word-for-word, in a presentation given to cabinet in September and drafted by the project developer, Camilleri.   

Planning Minister Clint Camilleri insisted this week that the objectives were not provided by the developer. 

PA admitted 2018 permit was against local plan: Graffitti

Graffiti says even Camilleri’s initial 2018 permit was irregular, as the PA had admitted during an appeals process that it disregarded key limitations set by the area’s local plan when it approved the original proposal.

Therefore, the developer's claim of already possessing a development permit actually refers to a permit that was issued in violation of current laws, Graffitti said.

Following this approval, Tal-Franċiż submitted a new application for a much larger project (PA/07254/22), leading to the current revision of the Local Plan.

‘This clearly demonstrates that the government and its authorities are consistently bending over backwards - twisting the law, or even changing it entirely, as is happening now - so that developers like Tal-Franċiż can do as they please,’ Graffitti activist Andre Callus said.

Local councils: We are worried

Swieqi Mayor Noel Muscat said residents were worried about the impact this project would have on their lives.

“Keep in mind all the projects rising at the moment, those approved but which have not yet started and those which are being proposed,” he said. “How can the Planning Authority allow all this to happen?”

Demonstrators hold placards. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“We asked for a meeting. We didn’t even get an acknowledgement,” he said.

St Julian’s deputy mayor Sean Gauci said the failure to consult with residents and councils suggested that things were being done in an underhanded way.

“That it has already been decided and agreed upon in secret,” he said as he urged authorities to introduce an aesthetic policy and run a carrying capacity study for the area.

Demonstrators: Residents deserve to be heard

A Marsascala resident who attended the St Julian's event said she was moved to attend after being outraged by the plans.

"I don’t see why I shouldn’t take an interest in what’s going on in the country. When you see monstrosities like this, you can’t stay home."

ADPD deputy chairperson Melissa Bagley expressed concern about the sheer size of the proposed development.

“They’re going to bury this all. The studies show how the towers are going to leave the bay in the shade at 4pm. And then there’s traffic and overtourism... where are we going to put all these people?”

Environmental lawyer Claire Bonello said she was horrified by the way the developer had “dictated” review objectives to the Planning Authority and felt the public consultation process was a sham one.

Residents deserved to have their voices heard in a genuine manner, she said.

1,200 truck trips a week

Astrid Vella from Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar highlighted some of the calculations reached by the Environmental Impact Assessment report, commissioned by the developer himself. Construction of the project will lead to 1,200 truck trips every week and once completed it will lead to 16,000 more vehicle trips in the area, she noted. 

Din L-Art Helwa president Patrick Calleja said it was clear that the Planning Authority had based its objectives for revising the local plan on the proposal developers had tabled. Villa Rosa, a historic art nouveau villa, is set to be surrounded by a 34-storey tower and two 22-storey ones, Spiteri said. 

“It is obvious this is going to completely destroy the surrounding environment,” he said. 

'Insult to our intelligence'

Graffitti's Callus said it was an “insult to the public's intelligence” for the prime minister to say that the process was still at a consultation stage.

‘It is clear that no one is naive enough to believe such a statement.

The local plan revision’s sole aim was to enable the construction of a mammoth project, he said.

“It is surely no coincidence that the revision process began after the developer’s meeting with the Cabinet, that it covers the exact area of his proposed project, and that its stated objectives align with changing development parameters, so that what is currently prohibited becomes permitted,”  Callus said.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has justified the local plan revision by saying Malta needs to attract high-quality tourists and top-shelf brands to the island.

Demonstrators listen to speeches to a backdrop of cranes for another massive project in the area led by DB Group. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Callus said that was all a “hollow attempt to sugarcoat the latest act of blatant greed imposed on the public by developers and enabled by the Government.”

No amount of PR could hide the disastrous environmental impacts of the project, as shown by the Environmental Impact Assessment commissioned by the developer himself, activists noted.

The demonstration is backed by the Swieqi and St Julian's local councils as well as the following NGOs: 

• Azzjoni: Tuna Artna Lura
• BirdLife Malta
• Din l-Art Ħelwa
• Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
• Friends of the Earth Malta
• Għawdix
• Moviment Graffitti
• Nature Trust Malta
• Ramblers’ Association Malta
• The Archaeological Society Malta
• Wirt Għawdex

The event is ongoing. Check back for further updates