The Planning Board has postponed a decision on a Xagħra apartment block close to Ġgantija Temples on Thursday and has asked the applicant to submit revised plans lowering the height of the building.
Applicant Mark Xerri seeks to demolish existing structures on an unbuilt plot and construct, a maisonette with a swimming pool, two two-car garages and 18 apartments over another three floors in Triq il-Mitħna.
The application PA 5562/21 is for a site located some 30 metres away from the Grade 1 scheduled Ta’ Kola Windmill and lies within the buffer zone of the protected Ġgantija Temples.
Objectors, including Wirt Għawdex, Flimkien Għall-Ambjent Aħjar and Din l-Art Ħelwa, have strongly opposed the development, saying it would ruin the streetscape and put the protected windmill at risk.
During the board meeting on Thursday, the planning directorate gave a summary of a report they compiled about the outcome of nearby planning applications, which concluded that the proposed development is not set to have a significant impact on the windmill.
Speaking at the hearing, objector Victor Borg, who said he was speaking on behalf of a coalition of NGOs, raised several issues.
He said that both the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the directorate were building their arguments on “misleading” photomontages and streetscape elevations, which he said do not conform to planning policies.
Borg said that while the directorate had said that the surrounding buildings in the piazza are of “various heights” this is untrue and that all the houses in the surrounding area are two-storey buildings. He added that given its proximity to a Grade 1 scheduled monument a building that is higher than the protected property itself should not be considered.
Objector Claria Cutajar, speaking on behalf of Moviment Graffitti said that it was important to preserve the buffer zone of the temples as well as the windmill at the forefront, but unfortunately, these are being ignored to make way for a commercial enterprise.
She said that two-storey townhouses should be kept as a standard in the area and that if the application is approved it will set an “ugly precedent” that will allow for more high-rise development in the area.
Prior to the decision being deferred, project architect Gordon Vella said that Xerri was open to revising plans for the block to make it more in line with the existing streetscape.
Initially, board chair Emmanuel Camilleri moved to call for a vote to approve the application in principle and said that he and fellow board member Martin Camilleri would oversee the revised plans to make sure they are in line.
However, other board members said that since the project would be seeing a reduction in height, it would be best to defer the application.
Camilleri deferred the decision and said that this would give the architect time to submit revised plans that would see a reduction in the height of the floors, alter the design of the building facade to be more in line with the surrounding area and address the blank party walls that would be created on the left side of the building.