11/06/2026
OBJECT TO THE TAKEOVER OF OUR SHORE AND SEA
After devouring so much land, they now want to take over our coast and sea.
A group of prominent Maltese businessmen have applied to build a massive lido on the public shoreline between Gżira and Sliema, which would also destroy a part of the sea.
Apart from the fact that, in principle, this application is an expression of boundless greed - because public space should never be appropriated for private profit - it is also completely absurd when you consider the context of the area.
Gżira and Sliema are already overwhelmed by unsustainable commercial activity. A development of this kind will further suffocate the area and push the public out so that a privileged few can become even richer.
We encourage you to submit an objection by sending an email to the PA by 19 June at [email protected]. In the subject line, include the application number: PA/03174/26.
You can use the below template for your objection.
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I object to to PA/03174/26 for the following reasons:
1. The proposed development is in an area that is already extremely congested with both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, as well as businesses (including catering establishments, food trucks and cruise operators, just to name a few) taking up large areas of the promenade and pavements. Such a development in a location like this is unsustainable.
2. The development in question directly conflicts with Policy NHRL01 of the North Harbour Local Plan, which designates this stretch of the promenade as a public open space. Furthermore, under the Public Domain Act, the first 15 m of the foreshore are public domain.
3. The site in question is designated as an Area of High Landscape Value (ALHV). This area of the shore is currently enjoyed by pedestrians, swimmers, fishers, families, and many others as an open space in an extremely built-up city. Such a development would compromise this landscape value and the value provided to the public, as well as running counter to the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) Coastal Objective 1 and 3.
4. In addition to eroding the landscape value, the project would partially obstruct views of Valletta from the public. The site falls within the proposed UNESCO Buffer Zone of the Valletta World Heritage Site. UNESCO has already warned against extensive commercial development in this area. This also runs counter to SPED Coastal Objective 1.
5. Land reclamation projects such as the one proposed risk damaging Posidonia Oceanica meadows, a Priority Habitat protected under the EU Habitats Directive.
Approving such a development, running counter to so many policies, laws, directives and plans as described above, sets a dangerous precedent for giving up our coastal areas to commercial development in places where the land is already saturated. The foundations for this precedent have already been set by the acceptance of PA/03932/15 down the promenade. The PA should not build upon this further, and should not allow such unsustainable development to become the norm in any context.
For the reasons listed above, I demand a full refusal of PA/03174/26 by the PA.
