FAA supports MP’s proposal to find alternative location for AUM dormitory

Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) has supported an idea by government MP Glenn Bedingfield to find an alternative site for the construction of a dormitory as part of the American University of Malta campus.

Bedingfield had recently suggested that the Fortizza tas-Salvatur in Kalkara or the Palazz tal-Kaptan tal-Galjuni at the Birgu waterfront could be considered alternative locations.

Both derelict sites are in private hands and it is reported that the owners of the Fortizza tas-Salvatur are willing to negotiate with the government, FAA said.

The fort offers a usable area of around 8,500 square metres and is easily accessible through road infrastructure built for Smart City.

FAA said it still strongly objects to an application to construct additional floors on the Knights’ Building at Dock One, and to build an administration block between the British and the Knights’ building, including the public staircase, as well as extensions on the public car park.

“This will all lead to the loss of open space in the heart of the Three Cities, and to the privatisation of the Cottonera Waterfront. The Planning Authority should work to provide more open spaces that are so essential to residents’ health, most especially within densely built-up urban areas like the Three Cities, and not allow those that exist today to be taken over for private use and speculative gain to the detriment of the people of Cottonera,” it said.

Through the acquisition and complete loss of the remaining open spaces around the Dock One area, this proposal is an example of the worst practice in planning that will have a direct detrimental impact on the liveability and amenity of the Three Cities, and should be refused by the competent authority. However in spite of the fact that this proposal violates several PA policies, the Planning Authority case officer is recommending approval of the application at the 12 September hearing, FAA said.

Proposing alternative sites for the AUM is not new and indeed both FAA and the NIFS group made a series of site recommendations including the Fortizza tas-Salvatur in reports drawn up in 2015.

“Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar hopes that the government will see sense in relocating both the dormitories as well as the AUM administrative building proposed between the British and the Knights’ Building. This will have the added bonus of restoring the historic Fortizza tas-Salvatur or the Palazz tal-Kaptan tal-Galjuni while freeing up Dock One for uses that will have a greater socio-economic benefit than the AUM. This would avoid the construction of a new educational building along Triq 31 ta’ Marzu as a new wing to the Knights’ Building, while the public staircase should be left as is, open and accessible to the public. As stated on the commemorative plaque, the public staircase was built with EU ERDF funds for the specific use of the local community, as the citizens’ right to ‘accessibility and mobility’. Let us for a change put citizens’ rights before developers’ demands.”