Sliema has seen a number of applications and developments relating to high-rise construction in recent years. What are the main issues faced by its residents?
It is not only high-rise construction, but construction of all sorts. There was even a chance of increasing the height of older buildings that were six or seven stories high by another two floors. But what really affects the residents’ way of life are the mega high-rise buildings. Our concern is that this will lead to more congestion.
As long as these are properly planned, and the conditions that will be imposed when a permit is issued are adhered to, then the impact will be minimised. But, unfortunately, so far we have seen very lax observance of such conditions and this worries us a great deal.
It is having a strong impact on residents and is putting a lot of pressure on Sliema and I am sure that, with the additional projects coming up, things will get much worse.
There have been complaints by residents about dust pollution. What can the local council do about this situation, and what can’t you do?
Unfortunately, people expect the Council to have an answer for everything. Unfortunately, when it comes to the control of all kinds of pollution, all the Council can do is report these grievances to the Building Regulations Office (BRO) and their inspectors have to come to stop whatever is causing the trouble. There are other kinds of pollution coming from traffic noise and entertainment that goes on – whether permitted or not – late into the night. There is construction work that starts early in the morning and carries on – with the contractor not always holding the right permit. All these things together cause a great deal of worry and inconvenience to residents.
Just imagine builders coming in next door, early in the morning, staying there all day using heavy machinery. They leave and then there is the loud music from the bars, and people going outside for a smoke and a chat, and this goes on into the early hours of the morning. It’s basically a noisy atmosphere all the time, unless you live in a really remote part of Sliema where you can get some peace and quiet, but obviously you can’t be anywhere central and be afforded this possibility.
When it comes to enforcement, you mentioned having to contact the BRO and other enforcement agencies over construction issues. How have you found their response time?
I’ll speak to the BRO management and while they do try their best, and their inspectors do visit, in my opinion their office is not equipped well enough and they have a very small number of inspectors. I told them that their inspectors would be needed to patrol Sliema alone all day, without having to cover all Malta and Gozo. I hope we can see some improvement in that area.
There was an idea of teaming up with the Planning Authority so that they could provide more human resources, but that is only when it comes to construction. Then you have noise issues that have to be regulated by the police and, there again, they are short of manpower – or at least that is the impression we have been given.
People rightly contact their Council to complain, but we do not see effective enforcement happening or, if it does, it is in particular instances and does not cover large areas. This is when people become worried and aggrieved.
When it comes to high-rise construction, there is already a traffic problem in Sliema. Are you concerned about the increase in traffic that such developments may create, and do you foresee a solution?
Traffic is always a problem and it’s not only limited to Sliema. This is a beautiful place and I’m proud to live here but it is also a ‘cross-over’ area; people drive through it, come here to work, come here for entertainment, to walk... so there is always a fair amount of traffic. We tried to help by introducing our ‘residents parking scheme’, or a time-restricted parking scheme, which was approved way back but never put into action. We started putting this into operation but, unfortunately, we did not get cooperation from the authorities. In fact, on the contrary, we were stopped. There was a Cabinet decision – specific to Sliema – to totally cancel this already approved parking scheme.
We also want to construct – in what little unoccupied space is left – an underground car park. We are moving ahead with this but, obviously, there is a specified process to observe and that process seems to be taking longer than we had anticipated.
Whenever there is a project in the pipeline, we insist – and it is the PA’s duty to ensure – that the developer provides sufficient parking spaces. What normally happens, however, in the eventual lack of sufficient parking spaces, is that the developers make a financial contribution that goes into a fund operated by the PA that will benefit the area.
At the moment, things are not being coordinated and when approval is given for large projects, I do not feel that there is sufficient discussion, or sufficient consideration, regarding the movement of traffic that such a development will cause. We are not against development, but we feel that the studies – particularly when it comes to addressing parking and car movements – need to be taken more seriously. A big project might tick all the necessary boxes but one needs to be realistic and see that the pressures already affecting Sliema will be increased to the point where it will be impossible to move. And by this I don’t mean just by car, but also in terms of affecting the movement of people. Cars occupy so much space that it will make it difficult for any other sort of transport to move around.
What about the issue of tables and chairs blocking pavements and passages through them around Sliema? Are you concerned and, if so, what can the Council do?
We always keep track of the applications submitted for these tables and chairs. In most cases we register our objections with the PA on time and give our reasons for them. Our main concern is that the pavements are totally taken over. If you allow an establishment the possibility of having tables and chairs on the pavement, then the ones nearby will also apply, so you have to take a more holistic approach.
What happens is that the actual pavement will be made almost completely inaccessible, and there will be a spill over of people using these facilities, especially when the business is not just a coffee shop or a restaurant but a bar, with people moving around.
I personally have to struggle to get through, so I can just imagine someone with mobility issues, someone with a pushchair or in a wheelchair. They will certainly not be able to pass through the passage. And when it is a restaurant or a coffee shop, imagine waiters coming out carrying loaded trays and a running child crashing into them. It can be dangerous in every sense.
On top of this, there is the noise caused by these establishments. It was initially intended that they would close at a certain time, but obviously today’s high rents make it necessary for an operator to extend the opening hours to make the business feasible, so they carry on into the night. It seems that all the regulations in place are being thrown out of the window and then you have to call the police.
In some parts of Sliema, residents are not able to use their garage because there will be so many cars parked illegally that a person coming home would have to get out of the car and find the owner of the vehicle blocking the entrance to the garage.
Then there are the late-night cruises, with people returning from them showing with no consideration for the disturbance they cause to the neighbours.
Do you think there is sufficient enforcement action on the part of the police when it comes to noise pollution or irregular parking, or is it just not enough?
I don’t want to sound too negative, but it is very seldom that you see impromptu action. When you get complaints, they need to be investigated. The police are stretched. When there have been cases and the police have responded, as soon as they leave, everything goes back to how it was. So you have the police drawing the attention of the bar owner to stop people being too noisy, to turn the volume down, and then when the police leave, the situation returns to normal in the sense that the noise level will just go up again.
There have also been complaints about the number of kiosks on the promenade. Have you also received similar complaints?
Yes we have and we’ve been in discussions with those who issue the permits for these sort of structures. I must point out that we, as the Council, are not responsible for issuing any of these permits and unfortunately, and notwithstanding the many years of discussions and promises that this issue will be better organised, we have seen very little action on the matter.
We have now ended up with a situation where we have a lovely seaside promenade that has been taken over by all these different structures and the people in them trying to sell tickets for cruises, etc., which is very annoying. And then on the opposite side of the road there are the cafés and restaurants taking up the space there. We are now not only being faced with the problem of cars but we are even having problems with regard to pedestrian access.