Case Study 5
You See, Ay? An alternative UCA viewpoint
The Maltese Structure Plan is a 20 year old document which still provides MEPA's nationwide strategy and contains core policies including those relating to Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs):
"POLICY UCO 6: Within Urban Conservation Areas, the basic objective will be to preserve and enhance all buildings, spaces, townscape, and landscape which are of Architectural or Historical Interest, and generally to safeguard areas of high environmental quality and improve areas of low quality."
The Sliema UCA was defined too late to save the gracious seafront villas from destruction. A walk through the heart of Sliema may discover classic townhouses and streetscapes that have survived to the present day. Preserving what remains of Sliema's character is now focussed on this village core where local families still live. Within this UCA 'ghetto', myopic greed coupled with inconsistent planning decisions continues to besiege a stressed environment and tired community. Most of those who live in the UCA can no longer see the sea!
St John the Baptist Street
St Mary Street
St Joseph Street
St Domenic Street
"POLICY UCO 10: Developments will not be permitted which adversely affect views of or from Urban Conservation Areas, or which detract from the traditional urban skyline. Particularly important views will be identified in detail in Local Plans." (One such view line is marked looking down from the University Heights across Sliema).
SRA representatives cannot reconcile the policies published by MEPA with the plans submitted to build up to 12 storeys in the Villa Bonici gardens nor with the ten storey high developments proposed along the Strand near the Forestals showroom. Nor can it comprehend the 8 storey (lately unofficially becoming 10) cordon all around Sliema, an obvious breach of the above policy. If such exploitation is allowed, the last window of the UCA towards Sliema Creek will be blanked off with concrete. Such further building is anticipated when so much of the existing property in Sliema (both old and new) stands empty and unwanted.
"POLICY UCO 13: Wherever possible, by control or positive intervention, buildings of architectural, historical, and townscape importance, gardens, and other areas of architectural or historical interest will be conserved."
This must surely include Villa Bonici?
Parisio Street
The Draft North Harbour Local Plan (NHLP) was published for public consultation in 2000 showing the proposed UCA of Sliema. Hundreds of comments on the Draft NHLP were duly submitted by concerned residents (most were ignored) - see list at www.mepa.org.mt/local_plans/nhlp/08_Sliemaxls.pdf . None of the published comments asked for a reduction in the UCA boundaries yet the Villa Bonici gardens were removed from UCA in the final NHLP (some private lobbying perhaps?). A table summarising the lengthy Local Plan preparation process is available to view at http://www.mepa.org.mt/file.aspx?f=231 for students of bureaucracy.
During the long gap between the end of public consultation in 2000 and the publication of the final NHLP in 2006, MEPA staff began a project to inspect and catalogue the traditional features of Sliema's streets (as well as the other UCAs). This was curtailed due to the slow progress made. Other influences between 2000 and 2006 included Malta's accession to the EU and an island-wide building boom.
Today's UCA is shown online at www.mepa.org.mt/local_plans/nhlp/maps/SJ5.jpg together with the building height zones set by MEPA (a revision of the zoning in the temporary provisions of 1988) www.mepa.org.mt/local_plans/nhlp/maps/SJ3.jpg . Nowhere has SRA found a projection of the final population of Sliema if all of the zoning is taken up - but it is already evident that the current population is intolerable given the available parking, open space and services.
The quote below is taken from summary of "URBAN CONSERVATION & BUILT ENVIRONMENT TOPIC PAPER" posted on MEPA website in 2002 (the bold has been added for emphasis):
"Urban Conservation Areas
Since 1993, a total of 40 areas have been formally approved and designated as Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs) and a further seven approved UCAs have been subject to public consultation and are awaiting formal designation. Of the designated UCAs, seven are considered to be of outstanding importance - Mdina, Citadel, Valletta, Floriana, Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua. Valletta was declared a World Heritage Site in 1980 whereas Mdina and the Citadel (Gozo) were accepted on the Tentative List of World Heritage for Malta in 1998.
There is a loss, in part through out migration, of population from the inner harbour area (the Grand Harbour Local Plan area, which includes Valletta, Floriana and the Three Cities) in particular, and from UCAs, mainly village cores, as a whole. The Topic Paper emphasizes a need for policy to slow down and reverse this decline. Coupled with population loss, residential vacancy in UCAs is also increasing. In addition, the trend for the conversion of buildings from residential to other uses was not successfully addressed by the current approach.
The actual rate of development taking place in UCAs is comparatively low, and this has compounded the demographic/social changes. Despite positive attempts at embellishment and enhancement, in general, environment conditions in UCAs have deteriorated. In particular, traffic and on-street parking continue to have negative effects."
Can anyone be surprised if the UCA population of Sliema - and the value of property in Sliema - continues to fall until MEPA acts upon its own policies and seeks a program of regeneration through sympathetic planning controls and environmental protection?
St Vincent Street