Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/725667
14 "SLIEMA has always been a busy place," the town's mayor tells me as we walk past a queue of peo- ple waiting to be served at the lo- cal council offices. "It's been busy for many, many years… but at the moment it's… it's…" He pauses as if searching for the right word. "It's mad," he con- cludes at length. "Mad, mad, mad, mad… and the indications for the future don't look at all good, ei- ther." It is not the most optimistic note on which to start an interview: nor does it help much that the walls of the Sliema local council are adorned with old photographs showing various parts of the town over the past century. Nearly all the scenes are now distorted be- yond recognition. At one point, Anthony Chircop even challenges me to recognise one particular building: a long line of arches sup- porting what looks like a 19th cen- tury warehouse. "It's where the Forestals build- ing now is… or was, before it was demolished," he informs me after I give up. "And just look at the gardens behind it… all gone now, too." Sliema has no doubt changed since those photos were taken… and this, in itself, is entirely natu- ral. But the photos also suggest an- other dimension to the change. By the rest of Malta's standards, Slie- ma is something of a newcomer: it can trace its history no further back than the mid-to-late 19th century… with most of it actually built in the early 20th. Yet in its short history, it has ex- panded (upwards and outwards) far more quickly than other, much older towns. So on top of the im- mediate problems faced by resi- dents on account of a seemingly unprecedented construction over- drive… the noise and dust, etc… there is also the question of Slie- ma's identity as a community. For long-time residents like An- thony Chircop, the challenge is as much about preserving the char- acter of Sliema, as about the infra- structural and logistical headaches his council now has to face. "I am 67 years old, and I remem- ber the old Forestals building per- fectly… in fact, I remember Sliema as it was in most of these photos. The place has changed, unfortu- nately, in the last 40 years. And it is now changing at a faster rate than ever before…" Perhaps the most iconic example of this transformation concerns the Tower Road on the seafront – once uniformly lined by elegant old townhouses; now a haphazard, uneven mess of mismatching ar- chitectural styles. But Chircop argues that this is merely the façade. "Don't ignore what's happening in inner Sliema. Not all has been lost: there are still a few streets that are still fairly unspoilt... where the buildings are still of more or less the same height and style. But they are now issu- ing permits to develop additional floors even there. On the surface, it's not as bad as what happened on the seafront. The houses them- selves are not demolished: aesthet- ically, there are efforts to preserve the facades of old houses. But they are allowing further development on top of them…" Despite the efforts to safe- guard what remains of the earlier streetscapes, the resulting wave of development is also radically changing the dynamics of daily Sliema life. "These new apartments have a double effect – or possible even more than double. The original houses are not demolished, so there is no possibility to build extra garages. At the same time, we are increasing the number of residents without increasing the building footprint. This means more resi- dents occupying the same space. And obviously, we are adding more cars on the road... when the number of cars is already a prob- lem as it is." At a glance, this seems to violate one of the declared Planning Au- thority policies: that of ensuring that all new residential units must provide new parking facilities. Has this policy been abandoned? "Technically no: it's still there, but it's easy to circumvent by simply paying a fine. That money goes into a fund, which eventually comes to the council: and it is then up to the council to find alternative parking spaces…" Needless to add this isn't easy, in a town where there are hardly any squares or open spaces to even speak of. "At the moment, for instance, we have a project to construct an underground garage under the playing fields next to the Torri [on the Sliema seafront]. The playing fields will then be rebuilt on top. This will hopefully alleviate a bit of the problem…. But the rate at which these permits are issued at the moment… they're coming out like… like…" Like hot-cakes? He nods. "To be honest, this has been the case for some time now. But it is now out of control. And the effects are being felt. I've already mentioned that these new apartments increase the parking problem… but on top of that they also increase the amount of waste generated in the same space. In the case of an ordinary townhouse, there will only be one bag to collect every two or three days. But if you've got apartments on top of you, your 'one bag' be- comes five. And the width of the façade doesn't change: it remains three or four metres. Suddenly, there will be five or six garbage bags to collect in that space… and another five or six next door on either side. Just imagine what the place could possibly look like in a few years' time…" Chircop's example seems to fit in with the general backdrop. In the last few years there have been nu- merous major changes to Malta's environment and planning institu- tions… most of which seem geared to facilitate development. Isn't the construction wave currently hit- ting inner Sliema also the result of the recent relaxation of height limits? "In a way, yes. There was a policy to allow a building to add storeys, if it was in between two taller build- ings. To give an example: if there are two buildings that are taller than the others in different parts of the same street, all the ones in between can apply to go up to the same level. So just because those taller buildings had been issued with permits without taking the surroundings into consideration – which is the wrong way to issue permits – all the others get to go up as well..." Chircop however admits it is not an easy issue to address. "Up to a point, you can't say it's completely wrong. After all, if there is a need for more apartments… if there is the possibility of someone making some money out of his property….. you have to take that into account. The problem is that it is being done indiscriminately and without proper planning…" Speaking of the need for more apartments… is this being felt in Sliema? There seems to be mixed messages on this point. Developers generally argue that the demand is high… while voices within the property sector itself are caution- ing against over-development, on the basis that the property bubble might burst… "I can confirm that it is very dif- ficult to find a property for rent in Sliema right now. The demand is high. There is a lot of interest from people involved in gaming compa- nies who want to live here, and so on. And so far I believe that Sliema still offers a convenient and attrac- tive living environment. You've got the beach, all the amenities… and Malta as a whole offers good weather. So far, people are coming to live here. So the people who are renting out these new apartments all seem to be doing well. But I don't know how long it will last..." Echoing the proverbial warning on financial institution adverts, Chircop suggests that 'the past is not a guarantee of the future'. "If I apply for a development permit today, and it takes a few years for the permit to be issued and the apartments to be built… I don't know if the situation would be the same. Things could possibly change. The boom might subside. I don't want to sound pessimis- tic, but these are real possibilities. They cannot be ignored. All along, however, I don't think there is any real consideration whatsoever of questions like: is there a real need for what we are building?" At this I can't help but feel a sense of deja-vu. This is territory we've all been in before. The redevelop- ment of the Sliema seafront is once again a classic example: each con- struction project was considered on its own merits, without any concern for its impact on the im- mediate surroundings. Forty years later, everyone seems to agree that this was a mistake. Yet it is a mis- take we are in the process of re- peating. Would Anthony Chircop agree with that assessment? "Yes. It's too late to do anything about the seafront now; but what's worse is that the same trend is extending into inner Sliema as well. We are seeing a number of apartment blocks going up fur- ther inland. There are very few streetscapes left in which the buildings are still all the same height. The new buildings, too, are being developed in the same hap- hazard way as the earlier ones…" In both cases, redevelopment came at a significant cost to resi- dents. "If you look at the old buildings on the seafront: some were quite big, but most were of normal size. Nearly all of them had gardens. All those gardens have now disap- peared. They used to provide a bit of room for air to circulate. And they provided distance between houses… at least at the back. To- day, buildings are clustered so Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2016 Had things been planned better 40 years ago, and had the possibility existed to buy three or four houses and redevelop them into single blocks… we might have had taller buildings longer ago, but with more open space PLANNING POLICIES Sliema development CHANGES New apartments increase the parking problem… but on top of that they also increase the amount of waste generated in the same space