Post Għalina Campaign Raises Alarm Over ‘Illegal’ Development On Manoel Island

The Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign has expressed concern over Gżira United Football Club’s decision to build several padel courts on Manoel Island without a planning permit. In a statement,…

The Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign has expressed concern over Gżira United Football Club’s decision to build several padel courts on Manoel Island without a planning permit.

In a statement, the campaign said such activity would amount to illegal development on land recently heralded as a future national park and included within the Government’s Malta Vision 2050 plans, and insisted the works should be halted immediately.

While emphasising that sports and fitness should remain part of Manoel Island’s future, the campaign noted that these activities must still follow the law.

“One of the core values emerging from a series of five workshops to envision what such a park could look like was that it should be a place where wellbeing and health are celebrated,” the statement said.

The campaign also acknowledged Gżira United’s long-standing need for a football pitch and said it welcomes the club’s efforts to encourage community participation in sport, describing such initiatives as an important contribution to the island’s long-term vision.

However, the group said it had repeatedly attempted to engage with Gżira United over the past 12 months, including during the petition campaign to turn Manoel Island into a national park, throughout a series of workshops, and again last week when the development of padel courts without a permit was brought to its attention.

According to the campaign, those attempts were unsuccessful.

It argued that Gżira United’s interests would be best served by participating fully in the Government’s ongoing public consultation process, warning that constructing padel courts without a permit undermines the spirit of collaboration that has characterised efforts to transform Manoel Island into a national park.

The campaign also sought to clarify the legal context surrounding the Nicholl Ground, the football-pitch-sized area behind the restaurant near the bridge to Manoel Island.

While Gżira United currently holds possession and usage rights over the site, the land is included in plans for the future national park. The club retains use of the ground until an alternative pitch is provided.

The exact location of this future pitch has never been finalised. MIDI’s previous masterplan for the island had proposed relocating the football pitch to the north shore of Manoel Island facing Sliema Ferries, as part of a broader development that included residential and commercial buildings.

The campaign insisted that the land currently being used for the padel courts cannot be viewed separately from wider plans for Manoel Island.

“Claims to the contrary are dangerous,” the statement reads. “They encourage a piecemeal approach driven by private interests, undermining the national consensus and public consultation that reflect the voices of over 29,000 people advocating for a non-commercial, community-focused Manoel Island.”

It also described the club’s decision to proceed with construction works as disappointing, accusing it of “pouring concrete and erecting structures” in pursuit of narrow commercial interests rather than a community-grounded masterplan for the island.

The campaign added that the only planning application currently active on the site has not yet been fully submitted, let alone approved.

As a result, the Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign said it has filed an official complaint with the Planning Authority’s Compliance and Enforcement Directorate and will continue following the case to ensure the law is respected.

What do you make of the campaign’s statement?

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