Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1034189
18 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 INTERVIEW Last week's vote to approve the City Centre project in Pembroke has underscored an uncomfortable reality. On the one hand, you have a very powerful and well-organised construction lobby; and on the other you have activists and NGOs who often seem divided and rudderless, and who don't have anywhere near the same political clout. Do you ever feel helpless confronted with a situation like that? No, I don't feel 'helpless' as such. First of all, I don't really agree that NGOs are 'divided': we do work together; more so today, in fact, than probably ever before. But my point of de- parture is that I understand that the situation is in itself dire, and I have no illusions whatsoever about what we are up against. Big business interests in Malta are very, very strong. In the case of the db project, the fact that there was such a concerted resistance is already something. To me, it is a signifi- cant step forward that there was such a strong resistance when it came to the vote taken last week – including three different local councils headed by mayors from different parties, people from different political backgrounds, the local residents… in fact no- body outside the PA Board re- ally defended this project at all. You might tell me that's mea- gre consolation, given how the vote went. But I like to take a long-term view. First of all, the fight against this project does not stop here. The broad coalition that has been formed, between the residents, the lo- cal councils, and practically all Malta's environmental NGOs, is still holding regular meetings: among other things, to discuss our approach to the appeal. We know, of course, that the db Group has access to the best professionals in the field; it has the resources to pay for consult- ants, and so on. We, too, need to step up our efforts in that sense. But we're still meeting, we're still working together to see how to take the fight all the way to the end. But still, it changes nothing about the fact that the situation is alarming… It is one thing to protest against an individual project; quite another to tackle 'defective' planning policies, which require a certain level of expertise and political engagement. Are any efforts being made to challenge the current planning regime in Malta? One of the things we are cur- rently discussing between the various NGOs – but we're still at a very early stage – is a cam- paign to demand a reform of the Planning Authority. Actually, 'reform' might not even be the right word. It's more like a radi- cal overhaul. We will be looking at the policies, but also the way the Authority operates: its pro- cedures, and so on… and we will be coming up with our propos- als for how the PA could oper- ate with a little more decency. Because this is what this is all about: decency. The PA Board has to under- stand that the decisions it takes are just as important – if not more important – than the de- cisions taken by parliament. A project like this will have an enormous impact on the quality of life of surrounding residents, and also the Maltese environ- ment as a whole, that is a lot more direct and immediate that any law passed by parliament. And unless they are revised, Malta's planning policies will only result in more such deci- sions in future, with disastrous long-term effects… How would you revise the policies, given a free hand? I can't give you a detailed an- swer off the top of my head, but one example of what needs to be changed would be the high-rise policy. We're not against high- rise in principle; but first of all we need to establish what sort of high-rise we are talking about. Why are we building high-rise projects? It's not to create ac- commodation to meet a de- mand. It's not because there's no room for housing, and to ad- dress that need we have no op- tion but to build upwards. It's not like that at all. The high-rise we are talk- ing about in Malta is to create super-luxurious apartments for the world's wealthiest. And in some cases, office blocks. It is not coming from any direct need arising from the people. Apart from that, to have high-rise you also need to have all the neces- sary infrastructure in place. The City Centre Project is a classic case in point: if you compare it to sensible high-rise develop- ments in other countries, which are surrounded by large open spaces, you will see that in this case, the tower-block will be slap-bang across a very narrow street from residential areas. There are thousands of people living just a few metres away, in apartments which – even geo- graphically, before the project is built – are already situated be- low the project site. That is why our campaign was called 'Don't Bury Us Alive'. They are going to build a mon- ster directly on top of those thousands of people. Not just the tower, but even the hotel. Pembroke is a residential zone; it was never planned for this type of development. That is part of the problem with the high-rise policy: it permits tall buildings practically everywhere. Pembroke is a residential zone, but it is also adjacent to Paceville. Some might argue that, as such, Pembroke is already exposed to all the mayhem of Malta's entertainment zone as it is; so we may as well 'officialise' its status as an offshoot of Paceville… At present, ITS marks the confine between the two zones. It is where Paceville ends, and Pembroke begins. This project will change that. The type of commercial activity that it will bring with it is immense. When looking at this project, we must not only look at the buildings themselves. Personally, the aesthetic as- pect does not appeal to me at all; I think it's very ugly. But that's one of my least concerns. I am more worried about the way it will impact residents' lives, and its environmental effects. From this latter perspective, it is as- tonishing how the representa- tive of the Environment and Resources Authority voted in fa- vour. Even the developers them- selves admit, in their impact as- sessment report, that the project should not go ahead without a tunnel. This development will add 7,000 cars to the roads lead- ing to Pembroke every day, in an area that is already extremely congested. Apart from grind- ing local traffic to a standstill, it will also generate a lot of air pollution: far more than the lim- its permissible by existing laws and policies. So there has to be a Will the City Centre project approval prove a tipping-point for Malta's traditionally out-muscled environmental lobby? Moviment Graffitti ANDRE CALLUS is hopeful that popular resistance to such developments will eventually lead to a much-needed overhaul of Malta's planning regime The PA Board's decisions are just as important – if not more important – than the decisions taken by parliament. A project like this will have an enormous impact on the quality of life of surrounding residents Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt It's about decency, not