|
The proposed residential parking zone for Sliema is set to offer Sliema residents 50 per cent of surface parking at the Strand and ten other roads, according to plans submitted by the local council to the Malta Transport Authority, mayor Albert Bonello Du Puis has told MaltaToday.
This would mean visitors to the town will only be able to park for a maximum of two hours in the other 50 per cent of this popular commercial area. Parking on the residents’ 50 per cent area will remain unrestricted.
According to Bonello De Puis no charges shall be imposed on visitors or residents alike.
The mayor explained that the intention behind this idea is to alleviate the parking problem for residents in this area.
Asked on the impact of this measure on employees working in this commercial area, Bonello Du Puis said this measure will encourage car-pooling. The mayor also reiterated his commitment that residents will not have to pay any fees for parking their car in Sliema.
“When the developer of the Qui Si Sana car park proposed a parking fee of Lm100 for residents, the idea was immediately shot down by me and the rest of the local council.”
But Labour councillor Martin Debono contends the imposition of the RPZ at the Strand and the Sliema town centre forms part of a greater deseign to divert traffic away from the old commercial centre towards the new shopping areas in Tigné and Qui-Si-Sana.
“Restricting parking in the strand, eliminating the ferries car park and closing Bisazza Street to traffic is part of a design aimed at deviating traffic to the new shopping centres thus taking business from the established town centre shops to the new shopping centres.”
According to Debono, due to the approaching local council elections, unpopular plans to hand over the RPZ to the developer have been put on the backburner. Instead, “the running torch to start off the RPZ has been handed to the Sliema local council.”
Debono questions the decision to start parking restrictions in the Strand and ten streets “in and adjacent to the town centres” instead of first restricting parking in the heart of the residential areas. According to Debono the end result of this plan would be that of increasing parking chaos in the inner residential area, as visitors will start taking up even more place in streets not covered by the RPZ.
“The PN councillors are making it seem as if they are doing some service to the residents while in reality they are only doing the developer’s dirty work,” says Debono.
For Debono it is increasingly clear that MEPA and the environment minister believe that the Qui-Si-Sana car park will not be feasible if the RPZ is not operational before the car park is constructed.
While agreeing with Debono that the RPZ as outlined in the Qui-Si-Sana Development Brief should be dropped, Green party councillor Michael Briguglio defends the Sliema council’s proposal, citing parking problems for residents living in the Strand and other streets covered by the council’s proposed RPZ.
But Briguglio insists that unless the development brief for the Qui-Si-Sana car park is turned down, the local council’s positive proposal cannot ever be implemented.
“The RPZ mentioned in the current development brief includes a mention of nominal fees for residents and caters for the commercial needs of the Qui Si Sana car park.”
According to Briguglio the brief can only be dropped by the Cabinet: “for this reason the Sliema council has been asking for a meeting with the Prime Minister for the past five months. Since the request for a meeting has not been granted, the council has written to the ombudsman.”
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
|
