Back in 2007, MEPA insiders had related how the minister of the day had given instructions that developers were to have their way in Attard, as long as Lija remained protected.
When a man is said to have his way with a woman, it is a euphemism for rape and, indeed, Attard was well and truly raped. It is now barely recognisable to anyone who remembers it as the village of gardens and citrus orchards that gave rise to its motto “I perfume the air with my blossoms”.
Then, the increases in building heights allowed by the 2006 local plans were starting to wreak damage but, at least, certain localities were still considered development no-go zones. All that has now changed and nothing is sacred, not even Comino, an unthinkable speculator target.
With the focus on Pembroke, Comino, Naxxar and other hot spots, the annihilation of our characteristic villages has gone on under the radar. Villages like Żurrieq, Manikata, Xlendi and other parts of Gozo are virtually unrecognisable, in spite of this government’s electoral manifesto pledge: “We will view the conservation and regeneration of Urban Conservation Areas in the most holistic manner in order to ensure that Malta’s urban character is preserved.”
Harsh critics of the PN’s Rationalisation Scheme, the Labour Party had promised not to extend the development zones. So, instead, it tampered with development zones internally, by surreptitiously increasing heights in the Design Guidelines after they went through public consultation. Overnight, every little house became a potential goldmine.
In a rare admission that this was getting out of hand, the Planning Authority (PA) issued guidance on how to decide development applications in the setting of scheduled building, stating “for each scheduled property, the context/setting is highly significant, including both the building and its surroundings” and “recent [unsightly] commitments should be mitigated for rather than further marred, towards the improvement of the overall context of the scheduled building”.
It was said that this guideline was issued to protect the setting of Dom Mintoff’s villa but I have no problem with that if it served to protect others too.
Attard was well and truly raped. It is now barely recognisable to anyone who remembers it as the village of gardens and citrus orchards- Astrid Vella
That was not to be as, just two years later, not only were these guidelines being ignored but, worse, the scheduled buildings themselves were being stripped of their scheduling.
The scheduling (protection) of a building is no longer set in stone. All a developer has to do is request de-scheduling of a building, which is decided virtually in secret. That’s how Fgura lost its only chance of having a public park when the last Fgura farmhouse, the scheduled Razzett l’Antik, with its surrounding green area, was stripped of protection.
Villa Barbaro, said to be the oldest of Malta’s rural palazzos, was also stripped of protection from encroaching development. Like other Grade 1 monuments, Villa Barbaro had been accorded a buffer zone to make sure that it wasn’t engulfed by taller buildings, obliterating it completely. Yet, this autumn, the PA increased the height of surrounding buildings to five floors, on grounds that the neighbours were losing potential income.
Developers are scraping the bottom of the dirty tricks barrel to obtain permits. In Safi, one of Malta’s least ruined villages, a massive five-storey structure is being proposed on an agricultural site abutting a row of beautifully restored one and two-storey old houses. This structure will overwhelm the surrounding buildings and create an ugly big blank party wall.
The increased traffic generated by 33 apartments plus shops will impact the tranquillity and setting of the Urban Conservation Area and ruin the traditional village core skyline. Worse still, the old homes are built on water reservoirs; therefore, excavation works right next to them could damage the houses and threaten residents’ lives.
Yet, when obliged to present new plans in keeping with the village core, architect Matthew Briffa presented essentially the same plans over again, presumably confident that they will be accepted.
Similarly, in Għaxaq, a massive seven-storey block is to be built within the buffer zone of the scheduled Villa Mekrech, a Baroque palazzo and gardens. The PA EPC chairman, Stephania Baldacchino, concluded that setting back the seventh floor slightly would complement the historic setting and issued the permit without the new plans. Sure enough, the new plans do not honour the legal setback.
A developer in Żurrieq applied for a five-storey block abutting on the two-storey urban conservation area. When he dropped that application, the objectors were not informed, so they never imagined he had already submitted a second application PA 06586/21, on the same site, a previously illegal move.
The developer failed to send the statutory notification to neighbours and removed the second site notice. Hence nobody objected except for the local council, which is refusing to appeal against the permit issued in spite of all the dirty tricks used.
Few places live up to the adage ‘our future is our past’ as much as Malta. Our most important economic driver, tourism, depends on our past and already we’re seeing a sharp drop in returning tourists. Our heritage buildings give us Maltese a sense of identity and essential green lungs in our towns and villages; their destruction means more congestion, pollution, flooding and deterioration of quality of life.
This downward spiral is prompting our youths to move abroad, a brain drain Malta cannot afford. When is this government going to put a firm stop to Malta sinking in the filth being traded between developers, the Planning Authority, politicians and local councils?
Astrid Vella is coordinator, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar.