Updated 4.30pm with developer's reaction

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is strongly opposing an eight-storey high development in Xagħra, including a 51-room hotel, partly within a protected zone and close to a century-old church.

“The scale and immensity” of the development, which also includes 63 garages and 15 apartments, is totally incompatible with the site’s location, partly within and abutting an urban conservation zone, the culture watchdog said.

It also pointed out that it was just 27 metres away from the Nazarene church, which is “of such historic value that it is included in the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands and would warrant scheduling”.

The Church of the Nazarene, which lies just behind the proposed development site. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Ormelune

NGOs, the Xagħra local council and residents have also come out against the development, arguing that the site of the proposed hotel is protected by a policy which doesn’t allow for hotels to be built on the land and the development exceeds height limitations.

“The proposed use of a hotel is completely against local plan policy GZ-HOUS. The only tourist accommodation which can be provided within such sites are  hostels,” architect Edward Scerri argued on behalf of the council.

He added that, since the proposed development falls partly within Xagħra urban conservation area, the proposed additional storeys were not acceptable either.

As well as the hotel with several amenities and underground garage, the developers, Karkanja Property Development, are seeking approval for an additional floor to seven blocks and three additional floors to three other blocks, already granted a permit under a previous application.

The proposed buildings will reach different heights with the tallest reaching eight storeys.

“The development is huge considering the surrounding buildings and church,” Xagħra mayor, Christian Zammit said.

“We are not against development but there needs to be a strengthening of policies to protect the skylines and streetscapes, otherwise we’re going to turn Gozo into Malta and kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Zammit said.

The construction site is just metres away from the Nazarene Church. Photo: Google Maps

Bob and Mary Armour, living right beside the proposed development, said that works had been going on for years.

“The site has been turned into a builder’s yard with vehicles coming and going, materials dumped and subsequently collected for use elsewhere,” Mary Armour said.

Apart from being dwarfed by the proposed development, which would clearly close them in, they also couldn’t understand how the small town with narrow streets was going to be able to handle all the traffic the development would bring.

“By the time they build what they want to, everyone’s going to be in their shadow, and the excess traffic is going to spoil the area completely,” she said.

Din l-Art ħelwa said: “It is evident that the resultant towering development in the very heart of this urban area, and on the fringes of its UCA characterised by low-lying development, is completely overbearing and unrelated to the existing context.

“The proposed development will dominate its streetscape and extended surroundings, scarring all views towards and around this neighbourhood  and is by no means in keeping with the character of this area and certainly not an example of a ‘high quality product’.”

Wirt Għawdex also submitted an objection to the project and a spokesperson for Moviment Graffitti said they will be monitoring the case closely.

'One floor lower than allowed' - developer

Euchar Vella, the Karkanja Developers CEO behind the project, defended the proposed development in comments given on Tuesday following the article's publication.

Vella said that the project was not only in full conformity with approved policies, but was also innovative in that it contained an open space to be used by the general public. 

"The development site is a sizable one, so yes there would be impacts, but nothing more than if it would have been developed piecemeal," Vella added.

The extra height, above the 16.3m permitted in the area, is limited only to the hotel and is one floor less than allowed by policy, he said.

The surrounding third-party blocks are of the same height, and staggered transition areas have been created wherever the development abounds with UCA and the church, he added.

He explained further that visual impacts on the skyline would be minor as the site happens to be in a low-lying point, and the design respected the surrounding streetscapes since the buildings would be in stone rather than bricks.