Pembroke’s local council has decided to sit out a protest being held on Saturday morning against plans for the Villa Rosa site, saying it will focus on providing feedback through a public consultation process instead.

In a statement on Saturday morning, the council said its members had unanimously decided to decline Moviment Graffitti’s invitation to join demonstrators at Saturday morning’s event.

“The council assumed this position based on the fact that consultation on the proposed changes are still at an early stage, although the council has already expressed its reservations,” it said in a Facebook post. 

It said it intended to obtain specialised, technical advice to help inform its position when submitting feedback to the public consultation process. 

"The council recalls that it was also seriously concerned in 2018 when the developer obtained a permit (for the site)," the council said. 

Representatives of both the Swieqi and St Julian's local councils are expected to attend the Saturday morning demonstration. 

Pembroke’s council is Labour-led, with the party having narrowly maintained a majority in this year’s council election.

Mayor Kaylon Zammit had initially told Times of Malta that he was concerned about plans for the Villa Rosa site, saying he feared the project would “bury” residents living close by.

Keylor Zammit's initial reaction to the local plan review plan.

The Villa Rosa site at St George’s Bay is the target of development by site owner and developer Anton Camilleri tal-Franċiz of AC Group.

Camilleri already has a permit to build offices and villas at the site. In 2022 he reconfigured his plans to focus on five-star hotels rather than residences, and presented significantly larger plans to build three huge towers in the area. That permit is still at the screening stage of the planning process.

The Robert Abela-led government has now ordered the Planning Authority to revise the area’s local plan, prompting fears that it is doing so to help the developer get the project across the line.

Times of Malta revealed earlier this month that the review objectives issued by the PA for public consultation were an almost exact replica of policy objectives included in a presentation drafted by the developer and presented to cabinet in September. 

Planning Minister Clint Camilleri this week insisted that the objectives were “drafted by technical people” and did not come from the developer.

In a statement on Friday, the developer said he intended to "scrap" the 2022 plans and revise the project, though he gave no further details of his plan. 

Demonstrators led by activist group Moviment Graffitti are set to gather at St George’s Bay to protest against the plans at 10.30am.

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