UNESCO: 15 years of chasing Malta for Valletta’s conservation report

UNESCO has asked Malta to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of Valletta’s World Heritage Site by 1 December, as fresh concerns mount over a contentious application to reclaim land along Sliema’s seafront for a private lido.

The report, requested by the World Heritage Committee for examination at its 49th session, will have to explain how Malta is addressing long-standing concerns over the protection of Valletta’s setting, including the views and harbour context which contribute to the capital’s formal recognition as an area of outstanding universal value.

Those concerns have now been brought directly into the debate over PA/03174/26, which proposes the takeover of part of the public coastline and surrounding seabed along Triq ix-Xatt, Sliema, for a lido, swimming pool, sun deck, restaurants and ancillary facilities.

Environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) is among those objecting to the project, warning that the application lies within the proposed buffer zone for Valletta and risks further undermining protected views across Marsamxett Harbour.

The deadline for objections to the proposed project closes on 19 June.

The NGO’s objection follows concerns raised by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH), which flagged the proposal’s potential impact on the historic harbour landscape and referred the case to the National World Heritage Technical Committee.

The application is especially sensitive because UNESCO has already warned that Malta’s current planning policies and regulations do not sufficiently safeguard Valletta’s setting. UNESCO representatives have been chasing the government for an updated state of conservation report since 2011.

The World Heritage Committee has specifically called for revisions to the Views and Vistas Analysis, the 2006 North Harbour Local Plan, the Floor Area Ratio policy, and the Grand Harbour Local Plan, with the objective of introducing effective height controls within and around the harbour.

In addition to the review, the committee asked Malta to further develop the proposed Valletta buffer zone, paying particular attention to its northern boundary along Marsamxett Harbour, an area UNESCO identified as having high development potential.

FAA argues the proposed Sliema lido must therefore be assessed not as an isolated commercial project, but as part of a cumulative pattern of development around Valletta’s harbour setting. It has called for a Heritage Impact Assessment, a Visual Impact Assessment and a viewshed analysis focused specifically on the effect the project would have on views of Valletta.

The NGO said there was no evidence that detailed information about the project, including a Heritage Impact Assessment, had been submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review before any planning approval, as requested by UNESCO for projects affecting Valletta and its proposed buffer zone.

FAA also raised environmental concerns, noting that the site appears to overlap with an area where colonies of Cladocora caespitosa, a protected endangered coral species, were previously translocated during works linked to the nearby Aqualuna lido.

Following questions sent by FAA to the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), the NGO said ERA has now requested an Environmental Impact Assessment.

The Sliema lido application has already drawn scrutiny because of the business interests behind it and the ties between them and a state-backed entity directly involved in those plans.

As previously reported by The Shift, the operators in question are linked to the Londoner Hotel, the Verdi Hotel through LAMHCO, and the Pebbles group, with the Maltese state effectively tied to one of the entities through its involvement in LAMHCO.

FAA said the lido’s approval would set another precedent for the commercialisation of the seafront, further narrowing public access and weakening the harbour views that remain central to Valletta’s UNESCO status.