Go-Ahead for the Demolition of Historic Barracks in Gozo Gains International Coverage in The Telegraph
A British colonial barracks in Malta is to be demolished in a decision that has infuriated heritage groups.
Chambray Barracks, built from sandstone in the 19th century, is to be knocked down to make way for a five-star hotel and apartment development.
Malta’s environment and planning review tribunal rejected appeals by heritage groups on Thursday to save the barracks, an imposing vestige of Britain’s colonial presence in the Mediterranean.
It upheld a decision by the country’s planning authority, which had approved the demolition.
The large building is part of Fort Chambray, which occupies a bluff overlooking the sea on the island of Gozo, part of the Maltese archipelago.
The barracks was among the first married quarters to be constructed for British soldiers and their families anywhere in the Empire.
Campaigners said its demolition would represent a tragic loss of British colonial heritage and have urged authorities to overturn the development project.
“I am angry and shocked,” said Andre Callus, a member of Moviment Graffiti, a civil society group. “The barracks are huge and very impressive. They’re in pretty good condition, despite having been fenced off for 20 years.”
Mr Callus said the decision did not come as a surprise.
“We have seen the same pattern for decades. In Malta, the planning authority and the environment and planning review tribunal are not independent. They’re puppets of the government.”
The Telegraph has approached the environment and planning review tribunal for comment.
Part of Fort Chambray, the barracks is part of a sprawling fortification that was built by the Knights of Malta,a lay religious order, which occupied the islands after being kicked out of its base in Rhodes in the early 16th century.
Commanding a site overlooking the channel that separates Gozo from Malta, the largest island, the barracks was used as a hospital for British soldiers during the First World War.
Once it has been demolished, there are plans for parts of the stone building to be incorporated into the luxury hotel development, according to local reporting.
“I’m devastated, I feel like crying,” said Daniel Cilia, a member of Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex, a heritage group. “I don’t understand how a building like this can be demolished. It is very important for Gozo – the only British barracks on the island. It’s a prime example of the British colonial presence.”
“The façade will be moved and incorporated into the new hotel, where it will be totally out of context. Eighty per cent of the original building will be destroyed,” he added.
The campaigners’ only remaining hope is to take the case to Malta’s Court of Appeal.
In February, the British barracks was named one of the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe by Europa Nostra, a heritage organisation.
The fight over the barracks is symptomatic of a broader struggle in Malta between conservation groups and developers.
Campaigners say that Malta and Gozo are being ruined by rampant development, with hotels and apartments being built all around the islands’ coastlines.
“These barracks are a tangible connection to a pivotal period in Malta’s history and stand as the last remaining witness in Gozo to an era when Malta was central to the British Empire’s Mediterranean network,” The Times of Malta wrote in an editorial earlier this year.
As part of that crucial Mediterranean network, the late Prince Philip was stationed in Malta from 1949-1951, while the country won its independence in 1964, bringing to an end 166 years of British rule. It became a republic in 1974.
But the British colonial imprint remains pronounced, from red post boxes and telephone kiosks to old-fashioned haberdashers, imperial war memorials and a marble statue of Queen Victoria in a square in Valletta, the capital.