The location of Ta’ Cenc is in a sense a bit unfortunate.
If it was located in the middle of Malta, like Ta’ Qali is, we wouldn’t even be considering building another 100 or so apartments, villa bungalows (or whatever “in” phrase is being used to describe every expensive time share) on it. We would drive past in awe, in admiration and with a lot of respect, a tremendous respect that I and the probable minority of those Maltese and Gozitans who have gone for walks at Ta’ Cenc already feel.
As it is, in upside down Malta and Gozo, when you drive towards Ta’ Qali you see the sign “Ta’ Qali, National Park”!! Of course Ta’ Qali is in no way a National Park as far as the definition of the World Conservation Union goes. It is simply a flat interesting enough place, a disused airfield which hosts a variety of activities and family days out, and will soon also be the base for the American Embassy.
Ta’ Cenc on the other hand is another world, and a very rare world in the Maltese Islands. In fact, in the Structure Plan, Policy TOU 10 Ta’ Cenc is given a policy all to itself, a unique feat because the original writers of the Structure Plan (luckily, planners with the best reputation in Europe were engaged to carry out this work!) must have realised its enormous importance, ecologically, environmentally and even socially. For what is Malta without its gardens? What is Malta without its very limited countryside? What is Malta without its best potential national park?
And this is precisely what the Structure Plan calls on all the people to do, because the government is really the people particularly in a country like ours where the tick in the box at election time is so far a national commitment. We have a huge turnout at election time, which simply means we have to be part of and accept the government of the day, because it really is there with the will of almost every one of the people involved. So policy TOU 10 in the Structure Plan, states that the area of Ta’ Cenc should be further studied as a “demonstration project... for Malta’s first national park”. And this is what we should be concentrating our efforts on. Turning Ta’ Cenc into our own true National Park
It is not an easy task. Some of Ta’ Cenc has already been destroyed. There is bird trapping carried out in the dolmens using the dolmens themselves! A lot of the cart ruts have been buried. We have a national treasure and we are abandoning it.
In the last few years, first through organisations like Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, which were really the pioneers in showing us the vastness, the uniqueness and the quality of our heritage, and now also through the dedicated team at Heritage Malta, we are just starting to appreciate our man-made heritage. But we are still not at all respectful enough of that which nature has given us. After all if a chapel is abandoned you can restore it. But if Ta’Cenc is developed further we will never be able to reclaim it. Not ever...
Ta’ Cenc is like our childhood. It’s precious and it is beautiful for most of us at least. And it is a very special gift. It grows old but it remains beautiful. Whereas we do not and have to fight the years with watching the sun on our faces, gym workouts, face lifts, tummy tucks, Botox or whatever. We deteriorate. Ta’ Cenc on the other hand can remain forever young if we love it enough to leave it as it is.
There are problems. Somebody owns this land and he may have had indications that he could build further. He may need to be compensated. But nobody is really objecting to a slight extension of the hotel. People are objecting to the plans to have a really big area of development in an area where no more development should take place.
Politically, things are unclear. The PN as such has not yet voiced a clear opinion. And Labour wants to build a golf course. Now I can see why some strategists at Labour would view this as the lesser of two evils, but really Ta’ Cenc must stay as it is, for our children and our children’s children. Why convert the most naturally beautiful area of Malta and Gozo into a golf course? It doesn’t make sense.
All of us right minded people who have been writing on this have been saying ad nauseam that a golf course should be built in an area which either is already severely run down (so a golf course will improve it) or is not ecologically important. Golf courses are incredibly expensive, and the only way to finance it all would be more building anyway, so once a golf course is built buildings would follow for the course to be financially sustainable anyway! So if you are red or blue, or disillusioned red or blue, do e-mail or write to your MP. Do tell them Ta’ Cenc should be saved, the owner compensated and Malta and Gozo’s best national park protected and preserved as such for us, and for all future generations.
We all escape to Gozo because Gozo is itself our back garden and Ta’ Cenc is the richest and most naturally beautiful part of our back garden. Let’s keep it that way otherwise it might, one day, end up looking more like Ta Qali!