The NGO Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar brought to public attention a plan to build offices, meeting rooms, a shop and a restaurant on public, open space between Gzira Gardens and the yacht marina quay.

An application for the project was submitted by Transport Malta, a government entity, knowing full well that the area in question is, supposedly, not for development. We’re not the ones saying this – it’s established in the Local Plan for the area, which lists this section as not developable.

Yet TM seems to want to challenge this, and will now leave it up to the Planning Authority to make a decision.

The idea is yet another insult to the public at large. We do hope that the PA will have the common sense to refuse it. We do have our doubts, however, as it is not uncommon that the green light was given to projects – planned by the government, its entities and the private sector – that should have never seen the light of day.

In its statement last Saturday, the FAA gave a long list of reasons why the project should be refused. Why should Transport Malta, for example, be interested in a restaurant? Should it not concentrate on making our transport system better, rather than seek to enter the catering business? There are enough catering establishments in the area, too. Is the “benefit of the few” more important than the benefit of the whole population.

There is ample space in abandoned buildings nearby, the FAA contended, which Transport Malta could use if it needs some offices in the area. If such a permit is granted, part of the shoreline in Ta’ Xbiex will be blocked and closed to public access. Traffic problems will increase as “two-way traffic will be funnelled through a three-metre bottleneck”.

Added to this, the design will eliminate 70 parking spaces which are sorely needed in an area where leaving one’s car is already a massive problem. Such a development would also destroy a green lung in what is otherwise a zone which is predominantly built up. It will also limit the promenade linking Ta’ Xbiex to the Gzira/Sliema area to a two-metre pathway. The view of the promenade will never be the same, and the structure will block the views of Valletta, which as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Both the Ta’ Xbiex and Gzira local councils have been urged to speak up against the project. Both councils, led by a strong Labour majority, have so far remained silent on the matter. These councils should see to the interests of their residents first, and not to politics.

The question that inevitably comes to mind is: do we have to build everywhere? Have we come to a point where open spaces are picked up at random to be built up?

Are we not fed up yet?