Alternattiva Demokratika is requesting better safeguard for Villa Barbaro in Tarxien through protection of the surrounding landscape.

Chairman Arnold Cassola said that Villa Barbaro is one of the oldest country villas in Malta, its oldest surviving parts pre-dating the arrival of the Knights of St John in 1530. The building and its sumptuous gardens have been witness to many episodes and protagonists of Malta's history, amongst whom also Grand Master De Rohan.

Spokesman for sustainable development Carmel Cacopardo noted that while the building of this country house was scheduled through the 1925 Antiquities Protection Act and provisions of the Development Protection Act, its unique gardens were not yet protected.

A buffer zone was urgently needed around the grounds of Villa Barbaro to ensure that new buildings did not encroach on the villa and its gardens, thereby ensuring landscape protection.

AD said that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority should ensure that any building in the buffer zone should not be too high, in order to protect and visually preserve the appearance of this historic monument.

"Luckily, this concept of a buffer zone and of buildings which do not go beyond a certain height around historical buildings has been now established in the cases of Villa Bologna in Attard and of Gougion Tower in Lija. Let us ensure that the same principle is applied to Villa Barbaro in Tarxien", Mr Cacopardo said.

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