Environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is opposing plans for the development of villas in St Julian’s, saying they do not reflect a “villa development”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the organisation said the proposed development, PA/04037/19, is at 141, Telgħet Birkirkara and Triq Sant'Elija.     

While it acknowledged that the new plans are an improvement on the originally proposed development, FAA maintained that the proposal, on four storeys, did not reflect the speculators’ claim of a “villa development”.

The inclusion of three additional storeys of basement “storage” areas made the possibility of division of the villas into apartments even more likely, it said.

FAA maintained that conditions stipulated in the local plan are not being met. It noted that, in spite of a three-floor building height limitation, the building rose to five floors on Telgħet Birkirkara and was not fully set back on Triq Sant’Elija.

It backed a statement by Transport Malta that the project required a traffic study, especially in light of the traffic to be generated by a massive elderly home up Telgħet Birkirkara.

FAA called for the scheduling of the old house on Telgħet Birkirkara, which is planned to be partially demolished to make way for the development. It said that no conservation plan or photomontages had been presented in line with PA requirements.

“The oldest surviving house in St Julian’s, dating back to 1688, cannot be dismembered simply to fit in with speculators’ plans,” FAA argued.

It strongly condemned the fact that the PA allowed the submission of wholesale new plans for a major project that has drawn hundreds of objections during the holiday period.

“This devious device which developers have resorted to for years to evade scrutiny has been highlighted by FAA for years and must stop,” it insisted.