Tigne – MEPA Reform or Deform?

 

Few were surprised when on the 19th January the MEPA Board approved the Tigne North plans to build three more blocks, two rising to fourteen storeys, comprising a further 102 apartments, plus shops and offices. The only concession to the current economic situation is the cancellation of the T20 tower block…three other major towers are to be built in the next 2 years causing further distress to local residents. Only this summer, the Times of Malta quoted “Mr Muscat [of MIDI] said there would not be any other high-rise structure” at Tigne.

The Sliema Residents’ Association and Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar cannot accept how MEPA can still be assessing projects of this magnitude on the basis of a Development Brief and Environment Impact Assessment drawn up in 1999, given that the social, economic and environment scene has changed completely since then.

The NGOs ask why these high rise apartment blocks are being approved when: the MEPA policy on High Rise development in the Maltese Islands has not been properly ratified, the 1992 Local Plan had warned against the building of more apartment blocks because Sliema was already over-congested, the 2005 census showed that there were already 4,500 empty apartments in the area and even the IMF has warned Malta that our over-dependence on development is affecting our banking sector.

The impact of this foregone conclusion to this application is to greatly increase the population in this highly visible location and to place more stress on the local infrastructure – roads, drains, power supplies, etc. Yet MEPA’s Environment Protection Division only requested an updated visual impact study, which reported the impact to Sliema and Valletta residents as Major Impact, but went on to recommend approval. The NGOs ask why the Environment Protection Division ignored air quality, shading and social impact studies – highly inconsistent since it imposed such studies on other projects in the area, but not on this one. There seems to be no concept that an environment impact assessment is not intended to block construction but to identify the best options.

‘Tigne North’ has been a prime example of poor consultation and procedure. The Visual Impact study claims that no representations from objectors were received by MEPA – yet MEPA itself acknowledged these objectors. EIS documents online are practically inaccessible as presented while Traffic Impact Studies updated in 2010 (before all Tower Road traffic was deviated towards the MIDI project) have not been made available to the public. The Public Hearing scheduled for 2nd December 2011, did not meet legal requirements since it was advertised as being held from 3 to 5pm, but when residents turned up at 4pm MEPA officials had already left.

The price of property is falling yet still more is being added to the stock – to the detriment of Malta, the financial well-being of the island and that of our banking system. Mepa has betrayed its mission statement to “ensure a quality of life that will be in harmony with the natural, cultural and built environment – in this hearing it was as if MEPA Reform had never happened”