Both applicants claimed that these stretches of rocky foreshores were unusable, not accessible to the public and in a neglected state. This was contested by Astrid Vella of Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, the Sliema council and the planning directorate. They insisted that both beaches were fully accessible and in use. Ms Vella pointed out that FAA had organised a petition against the takeover of public beaches for commercial purposes which attracted more than 2,000 signatures. She also highlighted the government’s pledge to take shoreland into public ownership and insisted that handing over more of the coast for commercial premises would violate this pledge. Both developers insisted that the works would enhance the beaches for public use. However, when pressed by board members as to whether public use would be against payment, Joe Preca, who was representing the Preluna, admitted that this had not yet been looked into. timesofmalta/articles/view/20140925/local/two-sliema-lido-applications-turned-down.537204
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:43:00 +0000