Environmental NGOs are in agreement: the proposed redevelopment of the dilapidated White Rocks complex should not extend into adjacent areas of pristine garigue and cultivated land, which are currently being included in the land being offered to developers.

The project – the latest attempt to redevelop the dilapidated complex – was announced by Economy Minister Chris Cardona nearly two weeks ago, but no map of the project footprint had been provided, and a request for one went unacknowledged ahead of the publication of last Sunday’s edition of this newspaper.

But the massive size of the project area – 449,885 square metres (45 hectares), according to Dr Cardona – raised eyebrows, particularly since the White Rocks site itself only occupies an area of 135,600 square metres. This latter area, defined in the White Rocks Development Brief issued in 1995, itself includes a sizeable proportion of undeveloped land in the immediate vicinity of the complex.

The development brief covered a total area of 369,000 square metres, including underlying garigue and nearby fields, and since the Coast Road to the south and the Pembroke Natura 2000 site to the east create natural boundaries, which led The Malta Independent on Sunday to make an educated guess of what the project footprint would be and to describe the project as the “Pembroke land grab.”

A copy of the footprint, obtained earlier this week, confirmed this newspaper’s guess. The land being offered to a prospective developer embraces all the fields between the White Rocks site and the Splash and Fun park in Bahar ic-Caghaq, as well as the remaining areas included in the development brief and including a small portion that is inside the Natura 2000 site.

The development brief, however, rules out any development outside the White Rocks site itself, save for the redevelopment of a small beach club. This time around, the government is making no such commitments, and in any case, it is unlikely that developers would be offered land on which development is expressly ruled out.

Curiously, the map of the footprint, which was drawn up by the Government Property Department, states that the total area is 408,441 square metres, although a comparison with the development brief area suggests that the 45 hectare measurement is the correct one.

In any case, The Malta Independent on Sunday sent copies of the GPD map to four local environmental NGOs: Din l-Art Helwa (DLH), Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), Nature Trust Malta (NTM) and the Ramblers Association of Malta – and asked them to comment on the project.

Inevitably, each NGO approached the issue from a different perspective, but all four agree on one main point: that the project should not be used as an excuse to encroach upon undeveloped land, particularly the coastal garigue beneath the White Rocks.

Curiously, a sizeable portion of the garigue included in the project area was left out of the Natura 2000 site boundary, even though it is a natural extension of the same ecosystem. It is unclear whether development will be allowed in the Natura 2000 site: Dr Cardona had ruled it out, but a Ministry spokesman told MaltaToday that a Natura 2000 designation did not preclude all types of development.

The Sports Village proposed by the previous government, in fact, would have encroached on the Natura 2000 site, albeit on a strip already bounded by streets and other structures. On the other hand, it does not appear to have envisaged development in the garigue and cultivated land included in the development brief.

Garigue is ‘no mere wasteland’

While two NGOs – DLH and NTM – suggested that the Natura 2000 site should be extended to cover all the area’s garigue, all four insisted that this pristine habitat should not be developed.

Nature Trust is presently involved in managing the Pembroke Natura 2000 site, including a joint project with the Malta Tourism Authority to promote eco-tourism in the area, and the NGO had been seeking to include the remaining garigue in the site boundaries when the Sports Village was being proposed.

Despite Dr Cardona’s apparent guarantee that the Natura 2000 area would not be developed, however, Nature Trust was still concerned about the areas that remained.

NTM president Vincent Attard emphasised the fact that the garigue outside the Natura 2000 site was of great ecological importance, as it was one of the few wildlife corridors connecting the Natura 2000 site to the north. Severing this link through development, he explained, would leave animal populations in Pembroke isolated.

But the garigue itself also has an intrinsic value, and Mr Attard noted that even landscaping – Dr Cardona went on record as stating that the winning bidders would be obliged to landscape the site – would not be an acceptable development.

“Garigue is a very important habitat, and a very sensitive one. Once destroyed, it can never be returned to its original state,” he stressed.

Din l-Art Helwa echoed NTM’s call, urging Environment Minister Leo Brincat to launch a study of the ecology of the coastal area to consider its possible inclusion in the Natura 2000 site.

“The coastal area adjoining the Pembroke Natura 2000 site should be protected from development, and Din l-Art Helwa calls on the government to show and defend its green credentials,” the NGO said.

As for the Ramblers’ Association, it believes that the original development of the White Rocks complex – which was built as officers’ married quarters by the British in the early 1960s – was already an unforgivable development on pristine land. But while the Maltese may not have been responsible for the original structures, the fate of the area is now in the country’s own hands, and the NGO believes that “it is inconceivable, if not bordering on the immoral, that we persist in defacing the already dwindling natural panoramas that lie at the very heart of, and give unique character to, our (once beautiful) islands.”

The FAA, meanwhile, emphasised that garigue was not merely wasteland, but an important natural habitat that was as beneficial to the wellbeing of people as it was crucial to the wildlife that it hosted.

The NGO also pointed out that Pembroke is the first open area beyond a densely-populated conurbation and that spending time in open areas was scientifically proven to reduce stress and the incidence of mental health problems.

The perception that garigue is mere wasteland, as pointed out by the FAA, appears to have fuelled proposals for major development projects in the recent past, including the development of two golf courses: one was actually proposed within what is now the Pembroke Natura 2000 site, and the other at Xaghra l-Hamra, close to Manikata and Ghajn Tuffieha.

The backlash concerning the latter proposal – the government of the day ended up backtracking on its proposals and the area instead became the Majjistral Nature and History Park – suggests that the public is recognising the value of what may have once been dismissed as unproductive, infertile land.

Whether this will help save the strip of garigue presently under the threat of development, however, remains to be seen.

Encroachment into undeveloped land deemed unjustified

But ultimately, the NGOs see little reason to extend Malta’s built-up areas simply to accommodate a project that is set to consist of mostly residential development.

The FAA questioned the incongruity between Dr Cardona’s assertion that development will be limited and the government’s decision to offer vast areas of undeveloped land to developers. It noted that it “is in favour of redevelopment (of the White Rocks site); but the present glut of residential property does not justify encroaching on more virgin land.”

The NGO also pointed out that in much of Europe and the USA, quality of life is a crucial factor when it comes to drawing up development plans.

“It is hoped that this government does not forget that its primary role is to ensure the quality of life of the community, before the interests of the development lobby.”

DLH explicitly maintains that the land is being offered to developers for property speculation purposes, and insists that such an approach would leave Malta worse off. It has therefore called on Mr Brincat and Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon to ensure that the undeveloped land included in the footprint – including the cultivated land – is protected.

“Rather than improving the existing dilapidated complex with a project that is sensitive to the existing architecture and landscape of the site, the government seems intent on pouring concrete on every available inch,” the NGO lamented.

“This may satisfy developers in the short term, but will be of no gain to Malta in the long term as Malta’s coastal and rural areas are being eroded by over-development, completely destroying the beauty of the Maltese natural landscape.”

The NTM questioned whether the redevelopment of the White Rocks site heralded the arrival of major developments in the area, particularly since land reclamation projects were apparently being considered nearby.

And if it were up to the Ramblers, the “redevelopment” of the site would simply involve demolishing the existing structures and returning the area to nature; clearly, expanding the footprint any further is beyond acceptable.

The association argues that at this stage of economic and social development, Malta should have stopped considering construction at the cost of open spaces, describing this practice as tantamount to “demolishing the backbone of the Maltese ethos”. It argued that saving what remained of Malta’s countryside and natural environment was far more important, particularly since not doing so threatened to damage the country’s appeal to tourists.

“It is perhaps altruistic to even suggest that the present eyesore White Rocks Complex buildings be removed and the place restored to its conceived former natural state of open countryside,” the NGO said. “But to propose increasing the footprint to take up so much of that natural and national heritage is as unsustainable as it is plainly wicked.”