Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/997322
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JUNE 2018 But Bonello warns that mobi- lisation has to be accompanied by sound professional knowl- edge. "The voracious construc- tion lobby has smartened up – it is a better-oiled machine, with good PR. It has an army of professionals and consultants to argue its case. The environ- mental lobby has had to do the same… Posters and protests alone won't cut it". A clear example of this was the victory achieved by ENGOs and the Sliema local council in the appeal against the 38-sto- rey Townsquare development. "I feel that the successful ap- peal was very much due to sus- tained legal scrutiny and action. When documents and calcula- tions essential to the case are being withheld from the public, we've had to use legal means to overcome those hurdles". Bonello contends that the chances of success are greater when civic action goes hand in hand with local councils and established NGOs. "Local councils and NGOs have institutional knowledge and legal and planning exper- tise accumulated over time which is necessary to contest the complicated cases we are facing these days". How to play politics According to former Minis- ter Michael Falzon civic action by residents can be highly ef- fective on a political level. "No politician can disregard civic action... the only problem is that while politicians and planners have to strike a balance between conflicting interests through compromise, environmentalists tend to be averse to compro- mise." Yet politicians may also have learned this lesson. For it has become a pattern on the gov- ernment's part to shock people with extreme proposals, pro- voke outrage and then down- scale the project enough to de- pict anyone left opposing it 'an absolutist.' A pattern which can be seen from the AUM develop- ment in Zonqor to the Mdina road project. For after the ma- jority of trees have been saved, will anyone opposing the loss of agricultural land be labeled an extremist?" With both parties wary of tak- ing on big developers like the db Group, civic action may be fill- ing a political void. "People have realised that pol- iticians are unlikely to oppose developments proposed by big time donors to the parties, so they're simply side-lining the political parties and taking ac- tion themselves," Bonello notes. Yet in a highly partisan coun- try like Malta, political lobbying may be a winning card for civic action groups in a small coun- try where a single family can be large enough to tip the balance in any particular district. The game has been played in the past, as was the case in residents' campaign against the Qui-Si-Sana carpark in which residents lobbied AD, Labour and rival Nationalist MPs to finally get what they wanted. In its heyday AD also posed its latent threat, thus winning en- vironmental concessions from the PN government on the eve of the 2008 election. Every campaign has a story. Much depends on the local dy- namics at play. There are even cases where, according to Mi- chael Falzon, developers hide behind "civic action" to thwart commercial rivals in their turf wars. The risk is that when it comes to issues, like the cumulative impact of small-scale ODZ de- velopments which are slowly eating away the countryside and where no local community exists to fight the battle, envi- ronmentalists and activists are destined for defeat. Nor can civic action groups on their own come up with an alterna- tive to the current growth at all costs. Indeed, there seem to be no brakes on the accelerator of the economic model. NEWS Townsquare Sliema residents represented by a pro-active PN led local council and supported by ENGOs have managed to present convincing arguments to Review Tribunal to overturn a PA decision in favour of the project. While the decision was based on technical issues, this victory would not have been achieved in the absence of detailed objections presented by those opposing the project. Hondoq ir-Rummien A recent decision by the PA's appeals' tribunal to allow developers to present new plans for a mega tourist development in a quarry in the vicinity of the pristine beach has angered residents led by tireless mayor Paul Buttigieg. But it remains highly unlikely that the project is approved, for the simple reason that nobody (including government) agrees with it. Manoel Island Gzira residents represented by a pro-active PL led council working hand in hand with activists from Kamp Emergenza Ambjent managed to secure public access to Manoel island's shoreline and to convince developers to downscale development plans. The AUM at Zonqor A large protest organised by Front Harsien ODZ, attended by thousands including activists, the Nationalist Opposition and Marsaskala's deputy mayor led the government to scale down the ODZ component of the project from 90,000sq.m to 18,000sq.m. Although plans for development at Zonqor are still pending, judging by the poor intake of students of the AUM, the project seems to have been put on the backburner. outlets for opposed Pembroke says 'No' Pembroke residents represented by a Labour led council have joined activists and councillors from Swieqi and St Julians in opposing the massive 38-storey development on land leased to the db Group by the Labour government. In response the Prime Minister has hinted at a possible "compromise." Pembroke residents have also protested against the development of a private school on government land in Pembroke. The protest organised by the residents was attended by Environment Minister Jose Herrera. "People have realised that politicians are unlikely to oppose developments proposed by big time donors to the parties, so they're simply side-lining the political parties" Claire Bonello