Marsaskala residents and Moviment Graffitti take waterpolo pitch ruling to Court
Several Marsaskala residents together with Moviment Graffitti have taken the Planning Tribunal’s (EPRT) ruling – giving the go-ahead for the construction of a waterpolo pitch, a clubhouse and a restaurant in Marsaskala – to court.
The development would involve extensive excavation of the seabed and dredging, limiting the public’s access and enjoyment of the coast and creating multiple inconveniences through the commercialisation of a residential area.
In their court case, the appellants are arguing that the Tribunal failed to fairly consider their arguments against the Board’s decision approving this development.
“For instance, the Local Plan clearly outlines the types of development allowed in that area, and waterpolo pitches are not one of them. The applicants have tried to justify their development as “maritime based”, when in reality the waterpolo pitch will contain freshwater, not saltwater. A pool using freshwater does not have to be built in the sea,” Moviment Graffitti said in a statement.
The building of a huge structure in Marsaskala Bay is also in breach of SPED provisions concerning aesthetics and the public’s accessibility to the shoreline, they added.
Residents and Moviment Graffitti have also argued that the harm done by this structure cannot in any way be justified by its benefits, especially in view of the fact that this waterpolo pitch will be used only during the summer months. Protected flora, including Posidonia beds, would be obliterated in order to reclaim the seabed, and a huge concrete slab in the small Marsaskala Bay would clearly be out of place, they said.
The project would also increase traffic and noise pollution in an already congested residential area, they added.
Moreover, the appellants are stating that the Planning Tribunal breached their right to a fair hearing and the principle of natural justice when its Chairperson, Dr Joseph Borg, refused to recuse himself without any justification, despite him being an employee of the defendant – the Planning Authority.
Residents and other stakeholders had never been consulted about the development of this waterpolo pitch and they have been opposing it ever since plans came to light. During the Tribunal’s proceedings, it transpired that Government’s decision to build this pitch was the result of a secret agreement with a sports club facing eviction from its premises situated on the public land given to the Sadeen
Group.
Marsaskala residents have recently raised the alarm about other secretive plans for Marsaskala Bay and its surroundings.
They have called for the withdrawal of a so-called ‘design contest’ issued by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), led by the disgraced Chairperson Mr Johann Buttigieg, since this is clearly a cover-up for shocking plans already drawn up by businessmen with specific commercial interests in Marsaskala square.