Marsaxlokk residents, children and NGOs protest against council plans on Wednesday to replace a school garden with a two-storey building for its offices.

Six children who attend the primary school, which forms part of St Thomas More College, took turns to call on the authorities to leave the garden alone.

"Leave our trees alone", "Don't touch the garden", the children shouted, as parents and residents cheered them on from outside the school gate.

Video: Matthew Mirabelli

The project entails the removal of 37 mature trees. Besides the council offices, the building is also planned to house a hall, a post office, and a library.

The project has been criticised by, among others, the Nationalist Party, which argued that it will gobble up one of the last open spaces left in urban Marsaxlokk, suffocating students and disrupting their studies while it is being built.

NGO Marsaxlokk Heritage representative Ryan Abela said the council should lead by example and not remove or build over the little green space school children had left.

Abela, who is also a Marsaxlokk resident, said that while the trees scheduled for removal are not in an outside development zone, the school garden is one of the last few remaining open spaces in the urban town and removing it would be "immoral".

"We find it hard to believe that the council could find no other site for its offices but this garden. Could they not have found an abandoned building and redevelop it? We already have a library, a clinic and two halls," he argued.

Children, he said, deserved better, especially in view of so much overdevelopment.

Asked if the NGO has been in contact with the council, Abela said the council had only provided "excuses".

Marsaxlokk Heritage also noted that the Strategic Plans for the Environment and Development (SPED) directed planners to enhance and protect open spaces in urban areas.

Abela said that residents had not been informed about the development plans and two council members were also objecting to the development.

"We are asking the council to hold a public meeting for residents as it is unfair to leave us residents in the dark about the plans. This garden belongs to the residents, especially the children."

Mark Sultana, from Birdlife Malta, said that the garden is part of the "Dinja Waħda" educational programme, in which children engage and learn about the environment through educational activities.

"We cannot have a school made up of just concrete. Children also need to experience and learn from nature," Sultana said.

He added that the trees scheduled for removal had been around for years but, instead of protecting them, the town's leaders were taking the environment for granted.

"The message we are giving our children is that the environment does not matter and trees are not important." he said.

People can submit an objection to the development application through the Planning Authority website.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.