Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar welcomes Government’s purchase of the Baroque palazzo, Villa Guardamangia, the Queen’s only place of residence outside the UK, which is to be restored and opened to the public by Heritage Malta.
FAA is particularly heartened by Minister José Herrera’s assertion that Government will acquire more assets with socio-political significance in future and that protection should go beyond the property itself to preserve its context. This is what FAA has been calling for in its campaign to reverse the privatisation of Manoel Island, which would be of far greater benefit as a wooded heritage park, than as an enclave of yet more luxury apartments.
In protecting Malta’s heritage assets, the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage has objected to the application to sanction illegal structures at Il-Fortizza, Sliema, insisting that the “circus-like” additions be removed. While FAA applauds the rejection of this application, it maintains it is far more important to save heritage buildings than to eliminate accretions.
A case in point is Fort Cambridge, a British-period officers’ mess and military hospital. The Sliema Local Council has been calling for Fort Cambridge to be scheduled since 2015, insisting that its architectural, military and social history are clearly evident and worthy of recognition: “Though various internal alterations were carried out over the years, much of the fabric is of significant quality, meriting preservation”. The PA’s 2006 Fort Cambridge Development Brief had described the barracks as a “landmark building” to be retained due to its historical and architectural importance, and as a buffer between surrounding new higher development.
The developers’ own environment impact assessment report warns that integration of the historic facade into the lower floors of a high-rise hotel means its “mere existence as a free-standing structure will be forever lost” and the military heritage of the area “further de-contextualised”. Yet their latest plans now propose a 31 storey building with the historic facade reduced to a mere screen placed in front of the block, making a mockery of one of Sliema’s few surviving landmarks.
Speaking for FAA, Astrid Vella asked why have the Planning Authority and Superintendence of Cultural Heritage been dragging their feet for five years on a building that even the developers’ study confirms “the Tigné officers’ mess would merit a Grade 1 Level of Protection”. Are our top heritage protection bodies yet again giving developers’ interests precedence over our heritage, social needs and the future of our tourism? Their tacit refusal to schedule this historic building amounts to cultural vandalism, a blow to our national identity and an insult to the Local Council and the 525 objectors who have called for its protection.
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar calls on Minister José Herrera, responsible for National Heritage, to ensure that this building is scheduled, restored and only allowed sensitive adaptive reuse.
The FAA Committee
