Cottonera residents will be hosting a series of activities on Monday to raise awareness about the lack of open spaces in the Three Cities ahead of a proposed extension of a private university campus along the Cospicua waterfront.
An evening of music, readings, face painting, and other activities for the family, is being held under the banner of ‘Action: Give us back our land’. The non-partisan event organised by a group of residents is aimed at raising awareness about the over-development in the harbour area.
Rebecca Cremona, one of the event’s organisers, told The Sunday Times of Malta that the idea had first come about when residents started expressing concerns about the planned extension of the American University of Malta campus along Dock 1 in Cospicua.
Many in the neighbourhood fear the project will lead to the complete loss of the only remaining public open spaces around Dock 1, she said. Plans by the AUM to make several additions to its campus will be decided by the Planning Authority board on Thursday.
Complete loss of the only remaining public open spaces
The alterations include a four-storey student accommodation block, which will also have an underground car park, and would be constructed on the existing car park leading up to Senglea Gate, if approved.
The planning directorate is against the plans in their current form and recommended that the AUM file a separate application for the block.
However, it recommended approval of the AUM’s plans to extend its campus to a disused building known as the Knights Building on the old dock front.
The AUM would turn this building into an educational institution by making internal alterations and constructing additional floors and a new wing. The directorate also recommended granting permission for the construction of an administrative building between the British and Knights buildings.
The Planning Authority’s Design Advisory Committee said it was not averse to the AUM’s proposals except for the student accommodation block which, it said, was “too high” and would leave a negative impact on the skyline.
More information about tomorrow’s event is available through the group’s Facebook page: ‘Action: Give us back our land’.