Msida residents launch legal challenge over ‘Machiavellian’ bridge approval at Msida Creek

Fourteen residents and property owners in Msida and Pietà have filed a judicial protest against the government, Infrastructure Malta, the Planning Authority and Transport Malta over a pedestrian bridge forming part of the Msida Creek project.

They say the controversial pedestrian bridge will loom directly outside their homes after being approved through what they describe as a “Machiavellian” planning process.

According to the residents, the proposed structure will rise to approximately three storeys in height and pass less than five metres from balconies and apartment windows along Triq ix-Xatt – the waterfront road separating Msida and Pietà.

The residents claim the bridge will strip them of privacy and natural light, reduce the value of their properties and create what they describe as a “social nuisance” in the middle of a residential area.

This comes just weeks after a new planning application was submitted to transform the Marina Palace elderly home on the same street, fronting the sixth form bus stop, into a 10-storey four-star hotel.

A project once dropped after public opposition, approved as a ‘minor amendment’

The bridge had originally formed part of the wider Msida Creek redevelopment plans but was later removed following objections from NGOs and the Msida Local Council.

Residents say the proposal resurfaced in November 2025 following discussions between the Transport Ministry and the Junior College student council.

Infrastructure Malta subsequently submitted new plans on 22 December 2025, for a bridge in almost the exact same location as the one previously withdrawn.

On 6 April this year, the Planning Commission approved the structure as a “minor amendment” to the existing Msida Creek permit.

Residents insist that approving a bridge of such scale through the minor amendment procedure was done deliberately, because such approvals cannot be appealed before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.

“This Machiavellian way in which this pedestrian bridge was re-introduced… was done solely to prevent those who wish to appeal against it, since one cannot appeal a Minor Amendment before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal,” the protest states.

They also maintain no consultation took place with residents living directly opposite the proposed structure, despite them being “directly and irremediably” affected by the project.

‘A social nuisance’ outside residents’ windows

The residents say the structure, designed diagonally across the road, would affect several apartment blocks simultaneously rather than a single residence.

They say its elevated walkway would create direct sightlines into homes, stripping families of privacy and reducing natural light.

They also warn the bridge risks becoming what they describe as a “social nuisance”, attracting loitering, vandalism, noise and light pollution immediately outside residential properties.

Among the concerns raised are fears that the project could significantly reduce property values while permanently altering the waterfront environment.

The residents argue that unlike other pedestrian bridges in Malta, this one would be constructed directly in front of inhabited apartments at exceptionally close range.

‘Prioritises vehicles, not pedestrians’

The judicial protest questions whether the bridge is necessary at all.

“It is clear that this pedestrian bridge prioritises only vehicles, and not people walking,” it reads.

Residents argue that pedestrians would effectively be required to climb the equivalent of three storeys simply to cross the road, an arrangement they say is impractical for elderly people and those with mobility issues.

Although lifts are planned as part of the project, the protest dismisses them as unreliable.

“The reality is that the majority of lifts in these bridges [across Malta] do not work,” the residents argue.

They claim pedestrians are therefore likely to continue using existing traffic lights nearby rather than the bridge itself, undermining the project’s stated aims of improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety.

The protest also questions the safety rationale behind the intervention, asking whether there is any evidence of fatal accidents at the site serious enough to justify such a major structure.

“One can little understand what the point of this pedestrian bridge really is since its use is in vain,” the protest concludes.

The residents have given the authorities three days to “remedy the situation”.

Lawyer Kayleigh Borg is representing the affected residents.

 

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