Xemxija residents fear the seaside suburb will soon be swallowed up by tower cranes building as many as 1,000 additional apartments there.

Residents gathered on a patch of protected garigue in Xemxija on Saturday to highlight concerns about a 13-storey apartment tower being proposed.

Apart from concerns about the tower’s impact on garigue habitats and Roman Baths right below the site, residents also say that Xemxija just cannot take the massive influx of development being planned there.

Apart from the apartment block being proposed by Tony Gauci and his architect Ray Demicoli (PA 00865/24), Xemxija also faces the prospect of a massive residential development at the former Mistra Village site.

Excavation works to build four towers housing over 700 apartments there have already started, despite a court having upheld an appeal filed by residents and sent the plans back to the planning tribunal.

Xemxija residents say that together, those two developments will add 1,000 apartments to Xemxija – a suburb of St Paul's Bay served by just two narrow and steep roads.

The site that the proposed development will rise on. Residents say they are being engulfed by development. Photo: PA

In an event organised on Saturday and backed by activist group Moviment Graffitti, residents urged the Planning Authority to refuse the new “monster” development and encouraged the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage “to take a stand against this application which, if approved, will impose on the context of the cart ruts, currently surrounded by natural garigue, and which will instead be surrounded by man-made landscaping and tall buildings.”

As of Saturday morning, almost 300 residents had objected to the proposed development through the PA website.

Saturday's event was endorsed by the following organisations: 

• St. Paul’s Bay Local Council
• Moviment Graffitti
• Friends of the Earth Malta
• Għawdix
• Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar
• Nature Trust – FEE Malta
• Din l-Art Ħelwa
• Ramblers’ Association Malta
• BirdLife Malta