Westside reclamation to provide 2,300 affordable homes

The Gibraltar Government has confirmed that all residential development on the Westside reclamation will be for affordable housing, with the project expected to deliver 2,300 homes.

The reclamation, approved by the Development and Planning Commission on May 28, will create around 47,000 square metres of new land in the northern half of the inner harbour in front of Westview Park.

Demolition work required ahead of construction is due to begin later this week, while creation of the new land is expected to take around 18 months.

The proposed reclamation has proved controversial and has been criticised by residents in the area concerned about its scale and the impact on their homes and on the environment, including a thriving colony of endangered ribbed Mediterranean limpets on the existing rocky seafront.

Many of the questions centre on the need for a project of this scale and the lack of detail as to what is going to be built on the reclaimed land.

On Tuesday, the Government said the focus of residential development on the reclaimed land would be on affordable homes.

The Government said there would be no open-market or private residential element and no part of the residential development would be sold at commercial prices.

The homes will instead be allocated to Gibraltarians through affordable housing schemes.

The development will also include dedicated pensioner accommodation, with the aim of enabling elderly tenants to move into appropriately sized flats and release larger Government rental homes for families.

The project will be delivered in phases in a bid to make homes available as early as possible.

The reclamation has also been designed to preserve the GASA bathing pavilion, while the existing children's park will be relocated during construction and expanded as part of the completed development.

"Every home built on this land will be an affordable home, allocated under the affordable housing scheme to Gibraltarians who need one,” said Gemma Arias Vasquez, the Minister for Business and Health whose portfolio also covers the port.

“We have designed the reclamation so that the bathing pavilion is preserved and the children's park comes back larger than it was, because creating new homes should not come at the cost of the facilities families already use.”

“We will build in phases so that homes can be handed over as early as possible and the dedicated pensioner accommodation will release larger rental properties for families who have waited too long for the space they need.”

“Furthermore, we will keep the community informed at every stage of the works, and I am very excited to deliver on this project and to see the works begin later this week.”

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo added: "Gibraltar has always grown by creating the land its people need, and every generation of Gibraltarians who has benefited from an affordable home on reclaimed land has done so because a previous generation was willing to build."

"This land is being created for the people of Gibraltar and for no one else."

"This project is entirely for affordable homes."

"Not one square metre of the residential development is for the open market."

"It will house our young families, it will provide proper accommodation for our pensioners, and it will, potentially, also make provision for the schooling of the children who will grow up there."

"This Government is clear about what this land is for, and it will be delivered for the people it is intended to serve."

"These are not homes for the rich, because we never build homes for the rich."

"These are homes for our working people."

"The people whose growing families are the future Gibraltarians and the future of Gibraltar."

The Government said further announcements on the plans, allocation of homes and development timelines would be made in due course.