Activist group Moviment Graffitti wants to take over management of Balluta Bay, countering plans by a private operator to build a ferry jetty in the popular St Julian’s bathing spot.
The NGO has filed an application with the Lands Authority to manage the bay, saying it would keep it permanently accessible and “ward off the commercialisation of this public space”.
Activists say they want to manage the bay as a space for “public recreational activities including citizen science, social and community activities and ecological monitoring activities," adding that they will not use the site to raise funds in any way for themselves.
Moviment Graffitti’s bid comes 10 days before the Planning Authority will decide on an application to build a jetty at the St Julian’s bay, for use by a private operator to run a hop-on, hop-off ferry service.
The PA has indicated that it will reject the application, despite the case officer having recommended the project for approval. A final decision was expected earlier this month but will now be taken on March 2.
Through its application, Moviment Graffitti is seeking to take over the same spot, only to maintain it as a public swimming area.
“This application is necessary because we cannot allow further take-up of public bays from private interests,” said a spokesperson for Moviment Graffitti, describing the deferred PA decision as “mysterious”.
“We hope that this move is not intended to allow any lobbying behind the scenes. This eating up of our public spaces is unacceptable and needs to be stopped,” the group said.
Controversial jetty plans
The hop-on, hop-off ferry service proposed for the bay will be operated by Fortina Investments, which has won a tender to be the sole operator of a Malta-Comino ferry service and also has a significant presence at Sliema’s ferries promenade, where its Captain Morgan tourist boats dominate.
The company is also seeking to operate a Malta-Gozo fast ferry, although that bid is tangled in legal trouble.
St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg has argued that the Balluta Bay plans risk turning the area into “another Ferries”, forcing bathers out of the area.
"Both the infrastructure itself and any ferry will pose a danger to bathers and cause pollution. The bay will end up like Sliema Creek.
"This is one of the very few remaining patches of sea and coastline which is still open to the public for recreational purposes and which has not been commercialised," the mayor has argued.
But operators – as well as the St Julian’s waterpolo club – say fears are unfounded. They have likened the jetty to a bus stop at sea and said it will only be temporary, until the waterpolo club can operate the service from within its own premises.
They note that many boats already anchor in the area and say that the proposed ferry service will run using eco-friendly vessels with reduced emissions.
"If objectors are so concerned about pollution in the bay, why don’t they seek to address the real problem caused by dozens of other boats that give our children infections every summer?” waterpolo club president Peter Bonavia asked.