A project to embellish the Sally Port promenade in Vittoriosa is prompting objections from residents who are claiming it will prioritise traffic over community needs.

“There are no bike lanes, areas for children to play, proper space for sports and recreation, very little greenery and other provisions for shade, decent landscaping…the whole thing is an uninspired sea of concrete,” the NGO ‘Action: Give us back our land’ said in submissions to the Planning Authority.

Piloted by Infrastructure Malta, the €9 million project is yet to receive a go-ahead from the planning watchdog. The revamp is part of a wider plan to embellish all of Kalkara creek and create a 4.5 kilometre pedestrian route around Cottonera from Senglea to Bighi.

Works, which are expected to be completed over an 18-month period, involve the rebuilding of a 600-metre stretch of the quay in an area known as It-Toqba, up to the Kalkara entrance. The project incorporates street furniture, paved footpaths, benches and decorative lighting.

Though the decision to revamp this area was welcomed because the site has been left neglected for years, the proposal received a lukewarm reception.

During a month-long consultation period by the Planning Authority, about 50 objections received were about the type of development on the cards.

Bar some exceptions, the plans were criticised on the grounds that a site which has huge potential for a public recreational spot in the Cottonera region would be sacrificed for a road and adjacent parking spaces.

Objectors also claimed that the proposal is not in line with various planning policies and strategies which seek to maximise the use of public open spaces in the Three Cities for the benefit of the community.

These include the Cottonera Strategy issued in 2018 by the Planning Authority, the Infrastructure Ministry and the Justice Ministry.

Under this policy, existing public open spaces “are to be embellished in line with the requirements of the locality and their use integrated with existing programmes for schools and NGOs, as well as to provide for informal sports and activities with them”.  

Moreover, the objectors say the 2018 strategy document recommended pedestrian-friendly measures on the stretch of coast from Vittoriosa to Kalkara, including the reconstruction of the road, the Regatta Club and in the implementation of a Sensory Garden.

Some of the suggestions being made are to narrow the road and reduce parking spaces to have more play areas, trees and soft landscaping.

Many say this spot is a socialising hub for families, jogs, walks and bicycle rides. The rehabilitation and embellishment of the area should take this into consideration and treat the area for what it is – a key public space, they insist.

The only “positive submission” received said the proposal was commendable on the grounds that parking shortage would be addressed while the eyesore posed by derelict boats and trailers would be removed.