A proposal by Transport Malta to increase the number of berths at the Kalkara yacht marina will effectively mean a total take-over of the creek, Moviment Graffitti warned on Monday.

It revealed the plans for the extended yacht marina in a Facebook post. The proposed project comes just a few months after the government gave up controversial plans to set up a yacht marina in Marsascala.

The activist organisation said Transport Malta was planning to extend the Kalkara marina by stealth by increasing the number of moorings and size of boats entering the creek.

"This development would result in more pollution, a loss in marine ecological biodiversity and reduced public access to the coast," it said. 

Before and after pictures supplied by the architect of the project, Eric Formosa, can be compared in the slider below. 

Graffitti said the application was proposing a "staggering 334 berths" all around the creek, with "a significant number of berths catering for large boats".

"This is unacceptable. In a country where the population is alarmed at the rapidly diminishing public and open spaces, the last thing Malta needs is further hogging of its coast and sea."

Graffitti said it had formally submitted an objection to the plans and is inviting members of the public to do likewise by Friday by sending an email to representations@pa.org.mt, quoting the application number PA/06431/20 in the subject line. 

What will the proposed marina look like?

According to the project description, the additional moorings will be made up of 90 berths that are 4.5 metres wide, 80 five-metre berths and 162 six-metre berths. The berths will be composed of anchor blocks connected to mooring lines, which will remain afloat with the help of floaters. 

The mooring arrangement will take up an area of 35,000 square metres of marine territory and will consist of two “packets” of bays, the report said.

The first will be close to the Kalkara inlet, which will consist of 12 mooring lines with 170 bays and a second set further out into the bay with 18 mooring lines housing 162 bays.

Photomontages attached to the report show that at full occupancy, boats would be dominating the Kalkara waterline for the majority of the inlet. 

What has the reaction been? 

Aside from Graffitti, a number of objections on the planning application have come from boat owners who are perplexed at how the proposed arrangement would allow them to access their vessels.

“Since a chain system is being proposed, how are we boat owners going to have access to our own boats?” said Ishmael Sciberras. He criticised the lack of consultation with boaters who regularly made use of the space. 

Another man, who said he captained a boat in the marina with his son, also expressed concern about how vessel owners would have access to their vessels. “As we use the vessel for work year-round, we are very concerned that the moorings are going to be moved from the shore,” he said. At least half a dozen objections from boat owners highlighted these concerns. 

What about swimming zones?

A closer look at the proposed marina. Photo: Transport Malta architect Eric Formosa

In an objection by eNGO Nature Trust, the organisation said that care must be taken to protect the swimming zones in the area and expressed concern about the impact that intensification of the moorings would have overall.

“The outside moorings are very close to the public swimming zone beneath St Angelo Mansions. This swimming zone must be protected at all cost as slowly such swimming zones are being taken away from the public,” they said.

“Enjoying the sea is a basic social right. With the larger boats moored so close to the swimming zone, this could endanger public health due to fuel and oil fumes from the increased number of boats that are planned for the area.”

Additionally, the intensification of moorings and vessels would pose a threat to the ecological life on the seabed, Nature Trust said, and that a number of protected species must be adequately safeguarded.

Transport Malta had also tried to extend the Kalkara marina in 2019, raising the ire of residents of the locality.

Then infrastructure minister Ian Borg had then promised that the marina would not be extended by a single centimetre.