MTA launches tender for conservation plan for Victoria Lines, with eye on restoration

The Malta Tourism Authority has launched a tender for the drafting of a conservation management plan for the Victoria Lines, a plan which incorporates not just its preservation, but also its restoration and its development into a "sustainable tourism product."

The Victoria lines are a network of fortifications built by the British in the late 19th century and span across the whole width of Malta (from Madliena at the farthest point East to Fomm ir-Rih at the farthest point West). The Lines incorporate other older Fortified Lines from the time of the Knights, and together have a significant heritage value.

There are a number of landmarks with the highest heritage grade of protection along the Victoria Lines, which will fall under the remit of this conservation management plan.

These include Fort Bingemma, the Dwejra Lines, the Targa Battery, Fort Mosta, Fort Madliena, a Military School, headquarters and wartime underground shelters in Mosta, and another military feature in Swieqi.

These are all scheduled as Grade 1 buildings, the highest degree of protection that can be afforded to a landmark.

Their uses today are varied: Fort Bingemma for instance is occupied on dubious legal pretences by a family, while Fort Mosta is still used by the Armed Forces of Malta, and Targa Battery is the headquarters and campsite of the Mosta Scout Group.

"They do not only deserve to be preserved, but also to be maintained and managed to the best of the country's ability and enjoyed by the locals and tourists alike. The formulation of a Conservation Management Plan is a step in that direction", the brief for the tender said of the Lines and the landmarks within it.

The Government's overall objectives when it comes to the Victoria Lines, as per the brief, will be first to safeguard and preserve them and their surrounding features, and also to restore and conserve the Lines where necessary.

The Government is also seeking to identify uses "that are compatible to the nature of the heritage artefact" and to identify how to effectively manage the conflicting uses of different users spread across the Lines.

The Government is also aiming "to develop a sustainable tourism product out of the Victoria Lines", and to propose a management model for the area that draws from best practice elsewhere.

"A Conservation Management Plan should be viewed as a longterm plan which takes into consideration any future use, as well as permissible alterations and development whilst protecting the existing heritage attributes", the MTA said in the brief.

"A balance between conservation, access, sustainable development and the interests of the national/local community, which includes the restoration of the

Victoria Lines and its surroundings" is what the MTA is seeking the conservation management plan to include.

It is stipulated that the restoration aspect of the area should be an "essential component" and one of the management plan's mean measures, and the MTA advised the eventual contractor to consult with documents issued by UNESCO, ICOMOS and Natural England in order to prepare their report.

The Estimated Procurement Value for the tender has been listed as €300,000 excluding VAT.

Bidders are expected to include several experts, including a historian specialising in military and industrial heritage, an ecological expert, a geological expert, a hydrology expert, a conservation architect, a tourism expert, a planner and an archaeologist.

Bidding for the tender will remain open until 24 January 2025.