Decision on development in Ġgantija buffer zone postponed as activists cry foul
NGOs said a technical document they submitted had been ignored
The Planning Authority on Thursday postponed a decision on a three-storey development in the Ġgantija Temples buffer zone after NGOs said a technical document they submitted had been ignored.
Chairperson Emmanuel Camilleri said he will put the 22-apartment development application on the Planning Board’s agenda in six weeks.
The board had initially approved the Xagħra development in 2023 despite there being no heritage impact assessment (HIA) on how the development would impact the UNESCO World Heritage status of Ġgantija.
At the time, the applicant, Emmanuel Farrugia, via his architect, argued that the development site, which is situated 157 metres from the megalithic temples, was in an area of archaeological importance and not the buffer zone.
There was, therefore, no need for an HIA, they argued.
The PA board had accepted those arguments when giving its seal of approval in November 2023. But it later revoked the permit, after learning that the site was actually in UNESCO’s 2015 buffer zone.
The PA has the power to revoke a permit if false information is given during proceedings.
The application returned to the Planning Board’s desk on Thursday. This time around, the applicant provided the HIA.
That HIA said the development would not have any impact on the Ġgantija site.
“The construction of the new building on the development site will be evident within the setting of the WHS Ġgantija site, but largely from the buffer zone, not from within the temple complex itself,” the HIA says.
“The proposal sits within the established skyline of the Xaghra settlement and is not intrusive on the panoramic views to the southeast, and it is therefore considered that the proposals have no impact on the integrity of the Ġgantija site,” it said.
The PA’s case officer recommended that the board approve the development because Malta’s heritage watchdog - the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had endorsed the report.
However, activists Daniel Cilia, Joseph Caruana, and Patrick Calleja said that Din L-Art Ħelwa, Wirt Għawdex, and Għawdix had issued a technical document listing what the HIA had missed.
They said that the PA ignored their representation, first citing that it was outside the established deadline and then that the email from which the objection was sent was different to the one that the organisations had originally sent their first objection some three years ago.
During a heated exchange, the PA’s executive chair, Johann Butigieg, intervened, saying it was not the Planning Authority’s job to decide whether the HIA was acceptable or not. That job was up to the SCH.
“Our job is just to process that decision,” he said.
After hearing the arguments, chair Camilleri adjourned a decision on the application by six weeks.
In that time, activists will have the chance to reach out to the SCH.
It will then be up to the SCH to consider the e-NGOs' concerns and, if it feels the need to do so, bring those worries to the PA.