Change At MEPA

 

As part of its role to raise awareness of developments in the environmental field, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) reminds members of the public that they are now able to take a much more active role in the processing of permits; where in the past registered objectors were often not allowed to speak at MEPA hearings, now all members of the public are given the opportunity to be heard. This is a very important step in favour of public participation in environmental and heritage matters.

MEPA reform is also working in favour of greater sensitivity in urban and heritage protection. MEPA recently resisted very strong pressure from hundreds of parents in refusing to grant a permit to build the St. Augustine School junior school in the garden of a scheduled old Gwardamangia villa. Government’s proposal to use the former medical school premises follows the new policy to first use or redevelop existing buildings, rather than build on open land.

This week MEPA’s Environment and Planning Commissions (EPC) refused other projects which would have most likely been accepted in the past. EPC A refused an application to build residences within a development zone, once the Qala Council and FAA proved that this site bordering an Out of Development Zone is in fact part of a major water catchment area supplying 28 farmers with water throughout summer.

EPC B subsequently refused an application to demolish a house in Sacred Heart Avenue, St. Julian’s, one of a row of five which were certified to be excellent examples of colonial architecture. FAA also maintained that this demolition would destroy the large old back gardens that form a green lung in the area. In spite of the fact that this house is in the development zone, the Commission decided that the “floor area, massing, building depth and site coverage is of an excessive scale and would lead to an over development of the site. This would not be in the interest of the amenity of the area and would increase the problem of over-development.” FAA is surprised that the Chairman of the Board was the only one to vote against MEPA’s Heritage Protection Unit and the Cultural Heritage Advisory Board’s recommendation to protect the site.

The changing mentality at MEPA is further illustrated by the MEPA Board session on the building of a 7-storey block of shops and 21 apartments at Spinola Bay St. Julian’s. MEPA’s notoriously pro-development Major Projects Unit had shamefully recommended approval of this 7-storey block in an Urban Conservation three-storey area. It was claimed that the building height should be calculated from half way up a public flight of steps and not from street level! A regulation that applies only to Sliema was used in this St. Julian’s case, while the vista from the church square, designated as a protected view by Mepa, was to be lost. FAA strongly objected to all these issues and MEPA Chairman Austin Walker drew the Board’s attention to various issues, including the congestion of buildings in the area and traffic problems; he also questioned the building’s aesthetics and finally deferred the decision due to pending permits for the felling of trees in the Villa Fieres garden and other issues.

FAA now urges MEPA to go the extra mile and fulfil best planning practice while giving the same importance to environmental issues, by commissioning an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to assess the best possible options for the Spinola area where five major projects are planned to take place.