News

01 Aug 2009

Plans for Valletta’s City Gate, by Martin Galea

Din l-Art Helwa newsletter, August 2009 Of course any architectural project of scale within Valletta is bound to be controversial. Valletta belongs to us all and we feel deeply about it. Indeed we are united in what we don’t like about Valletta’s City Gate, but not how we want to replace it. In choosing the world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, the government was...

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31 Jul 2009

Law of Unintended Consequences, by Martin Scicluna

Times of Malta, 31st July 2009 – The law of unintended consequences holds that there are often initiatives, invariably taken with the best of intentions, which lead in the event to negative or perverse results absolutely contrary to what was intended. The Prime Minister’s intention, announced in his long-awaited Blueprint for Mepa reform, to arrogate planning policy to himself is another...

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23 Jul 2009

Theatre among the Ruins, by Petra Bianchi

Times of Malta, 23 July 2009 – In the 18th century, young men from the north of Europe frequently travelled on a “grand tour” to the south, to complete their education. They visited France and Italy, admiring old monuments and viewing famous cities, buildings and works of art. At the turn of the 19th century, many of these travellers were taking...

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22 Jul 2009

A Planning Step Backwards, by Martin Galea

Times of Malta, 22 July 2009  The long awaited proposals for the reform of Mepa have finally been revealed. There is much to commend in many of the proposals. Some are eminently sensible and may resolve the planning catastrophe we have been living these past 40 years. Undoubtedly, one of the main problems we had was that Mepa did not seem to...

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22 Jul 2009

Caravans leave Foresta 2000 protected area

Press Release – 22 July 2009 Din l-Art Helwa, Birdlife Malta, Nature Trust (Malta) Six caravans that were moved into the Foresta 2000 afforestation site on early this month have now left the protected area, Din l-Art Helwa, Nature Trust (Malta) and BirdLife Malta announced today. The caravans were part of a larger group that were evicted from an area adjacent to the...

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14 Jul 2009

DLH disagrees with moving planning policy back into the hands of politicians

DLH Press Release – 14 July 2009 Din l-Art Helwa welcomes the long-awaited proposals for the reform of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority saying that the latest reform document contains many valid improvements. However the Organisation is extremely concerned about the recommendation to move the responsibility for planning policy away from Mepa, and to centralise planning in the Office of the...

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07 Jul 2009

Evicted caravans moved into Foresta 2000 protected area

Press Release 7 July 2009 Din l-art Helwa, BirdLife Malta and Nature Trust Malta today expressed their outrage at the re-location of evicted caravans in Mellieha to the Foresta 2000 protected site over the last weekend. The NGOs also revealed that a number of trees were cut down by the contractor brought in by the Mellieha Local Council, who facilitated the moving...

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28 Jun 2009

Time to move forward for Valletta, says Din l-Art Helwa

Din l-Art Helwa Press Release 28 June 2009Following the presentation of the new designs for Valletta’s Freedom Square, City Gate and the Opera House site, Din l-Art Helwa supports the concept put forward by Italian architect, Renzo Piano for these three sensitive areas so critical to the regeneration of the city. ‘With the entrance to Valletta still in a deplorable state...

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28 Jun 2009

NGOs slam Siggiewi mayor and demand investigations

Press Release 28 June 2009 The environmental NGOs BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Gaia Foundation, Nature Trust Malta and the Ramblers Association today slammed the Siggiewi Mayor Perit Musumeci for his request for the police to investigate FAA Coordinator Astrid Vella. The NGOs stated that the authorities should investigate the notorious planning applications...

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