The Planning Authority’s directorate tasked with analysing massive developments proposed on land abutting Għargħur’s urban conservation area has recommended their refusal.
The case officer joined the cultural heritage watchdog, several NGOs and scores of residents in objecting to the proposed cluster of garages, apartments and penthouses that they fear would ruin the character of the village.
The site on Triq il-Wieħed u Tletin ta’ Marzu had been sold by the Church for an undisclosed sum. The developments are covered by three applications filed by different people.
PA 1943/21 was filed by Kevin Azzopardi through his architect Colin Zammit. PA 7953/20 was filed by John Agius through his architect Ioni Bugeja while PA 1824/21 was filed by Daniel Anastasi through architect Zammit.
The applications would result in a land use mix consisting of 36 residential units, an office and a garage complex with 56 car spaces and garages on a plot measuring 1,100 square metres, within the development zone.
The site lies just behind the church, near the village core.
Among others, the case officer is recommending refusal since the proposal runs counter to the provisions of several policies, especially those related to the allowable height limitation.
There was no clear transition between the urban conservation area (UCA) and the proposed building mass – one of the objections of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage which described the proposed project as “unacceptable” and “cancerous”.
The watchdog noted how the site abuts two-storey buildings within the UCA and is only 70 metres away from the parish church, which enjoys Grade 1 scheduling.
Residents and objectors noted that the proposal runs counter to a number of objectives in the PA’s strategic plan for environment and development and will create traffic congestion.
The proposal will ruin the visual and social fabric of the area, they stressed.
When the Planning Commission met last September 2021, one of the applications was suspended so it can be decided along with the other two.
All three will be decided by the commission on Friday.
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is one of those NGOs which has taken up the case "as it represents all that is wrong with PA, approving applications that are known to be abusive due to salami-slicing".
Coordinator Astrid Vella said the PA also ignores the village context and has allowed blocks of flats to be built around Għargħur's Urban Conservation Area, obliterating the beautiful, historic view of Gharghur parish church at the heart of the village.
"This is the result of the increased heights allowed by Annex 2 provision, which was slipped into the DC 2015 regulations surreptitiously, to allow developers extra floors, sacrificing Malta and Gozo's villages and quality of life," she said when contacted.