A New Vision For The South

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar supported by Ramblers’ Association is planning a seminar to be held at Global College, Smart City on Saturday 28th March to discuss the options facing development in the South.

Over the past 50 years the leisure industry developed in the North, whilst the power stations, dockyards, gas plants, recycling plant etc continued to expand in the south.  While this was dictated by the harbour infrastructure, it does not excuse the authorities for their lack of planning and effort to mitigate the social and environmental impact of this infrastructure. 

Malta's entry into the EU caused another wave of new roads and development. With the North saturated by over-development, eyes now turn to the South for virgin land at the last remaining easily-accessible coastline to develop. We are told that the South deserves a leisure industry, ignoring the fact that the skeleton of the Jerma hotel still sits on a prime site, 3 hotels were planned for Smart City and many neglected heritage buildings are in need of sensitive conversion and re-use. With holistic planning and sensitivity to the social environment, one can realistically regenerate areas.

With this in mind we are organizing this Forum to ask seriously and for the first time: what do we need to improve the quality of life in the South? 

Are more roads and petrol stations essential to the regeneration of the area or would they destroy agricultural land and natural coast? Do we need to continue quarrying stone for new development, or can we use other materials or existing buildings to avoid destroying our rural and cultural landscape? Do we need tall buildings to attract new investment, or can we do that without shadowing neighbouring buildings? Does development necessitate abandoning our heritage to ruin and abuse? What prospects are there of safeguarding our open spaces and creating natural and heritage parks at Wied Fulija and Wied Moqbol and the first coastal park for the south at Zonqor? 

We are at a crossroads; the South needs a fresh planning approach prioritising the well-being of local communities through holistic planning that includes health, economy and heritage.
In this Forum to be addressed by Her Excellency President Marie-Louise Coleiro, we will discuss all these issues. Speakers and the public will offer ideas on how we can improve the quality of life for the people of the South, reflecting on who gains and who loses from projects and proposing solutions for further debate. 

The New Vision for the South Forum is to take place at Global College Malta, Smart City, on Saturday 28th March, 08:30 to 13:00.  Participation is free and places can be booked on www.faa.org.mt or https://ticketengine.faa.org.mt/

Forum Speakers:        

Perit Edward Said – Heritage Architect
Mr Sandro Chetcuti – President, Malta Developers’ Association
Dr George Cassar – Senior Lecturer, University of Malta Institute for Tourism & Culture
Dr Jason Bonnici – Coordinator, Sahhambjent
Prof Paul Pace – Director, Centre for Environmental Education, Kummissjoni Ambjent tal-Knisja