Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Moviment Graffitti, and Zminijietna - Voice of the Left, said Friday they have filed an appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) challenging the Planning Authority's approval of an abusive development at the site of the former Nicholl Ground, Manoel Island, for 30 commercial padel courts.
The Planning Authority has approved plans for 30 padel courts on Manoel Island, even though 18 of the courts had already been built without planning permits while the application was still being considered. A 33-page appeal has now been filed asking for the decision to be overturned.
The appellants, a statement said, argue that the grounds for sanctioning this 'build first, approve later' application have been wrongly applied and amount to abuse of the planning process. Such sanctioning incentivises developers to bypass planning rules and then seek approval retrospectively.
The appellants are also challenging the description of the structures as "lightweight" and "demountable", arguing that the proposed development involves substantial glass and metal structures, artificial turf, foundations and floodlighting. Having taken weeks to build, they cannot reasonably be regarded as easily demountable, the statement said.
Given the heritage and landscape importance of Manoel Island, the appeal notes that the site lies within strategic view corridors and an Area of High Landscape Value, close to Fort Manoel, a Grade 1 scheduled property. The appellants argue that the potential visual and heritage impacts, including those arising from the fencing and floodlights which blot out the view of the fortifications, were not adequately assessed.
The appeal also argues that the site falls within the proposed buffer zone of the Valletta UNESCO World Heritage Site, and questions why no Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) was undertaken in this case. The appellants point to the HIA requested by the Planning Authority for the same site and the rejections by UNESCO of previous Valletta Management Plans.
Through their lawyer Darren Carabott, the appellants are asking the EPRT to annul the Planning Authority's decision and refuse the development application.
The NGOs maintain that they are all in favour of sports at Manoel Island, destined as a health-giving heritage and recreation park. However, they cannot accept that immediately upon Manoel Island being handed over the public after 10 years of campaigning and litigation, a speculator should seize land abusively to profit from it as a private business, not as a public facility. The NGOs appeal to the public to support this legal appeal to retain Manoel Island for the public, with donations at:
https://faa.org.mt/malta-deserves-better-the-fight-isnt-over/