Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and Madliena residents braved blistering winds on Saturday to protest the development of a 200-room care home for the elderly on the site of a retreat house. 

Katari Holdings owner Paul Attard was granted a permit by the Planning Authority to turn the two-storey Porziuncola retreat house previously operated by Franciscan friars into a 20-metre tall care facility, in an area dominated by low-lying buildings. 

The development, designed by architect Colin Zammit, was granted a PA permit in late 2021 but residents argue that happened using “tricks and deceit”. They say development notices were never affixed on-site, with the plans taking the community by surprise. 

“Had neighbours not noticed antennas being taken off the roof and doing their own research, demolition trucks would have been the first we would have known of it,” the residents said in a collective statement. 

Dozens of people turned up to protest on Saturday, as gale-force winds blasted through the gates of the retreat home and the sea churned into a foam-topped grey. 

Carrying printed signs and blowing whistles by the side of the road, protestors affixed a banner on the gates of the friar’s property reading “stop the hypocrisy” and “stop the uglification”. 

“The residents maintain that the development is ruining the beauty and integrity of the area and affects the lives of all that live here,” the statement continues. 

“The project could ultimately set a dangerous precedent for taller buildings in the area, increasing the risk that in a decade’s time the coast road may well look like the Sliema seafront.” 

Residents want permit revoked

Residents have appealed the PA’s decision to grant the permit on the basis of what they say is incorrect information, errors on the face of record and the lack of notice signs that should have been put up by the developer.

“We demand that the permit application be restarted in the legally required form, where residents have the right to make representations within a specific period from having been made aware of the development,” they said. 

Representatives from the Nationalist Party, ADPD and Partit Popolari were also in attendance and voiced their opposition to the project. 

Multiple PN candidates made an appearance at the event: from left, Albert Buttigieg, Robert Arrigo, Karl Gouder, Joe Giglio and Graham Bencini. Naxxar mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami, who is facing a PN disciplinary committee, is in the middle of the photo. Photo: Jonathan Borg

“We are against this development because we believe aspects of it were not in line with standard procedure,” PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo said. 

“Despite the fact that the permit is out we hope that common sense will prevail. Residents have lived here for many years, I don’t think it's right that their lives should be disrupted.”

ADPD candidate Mina Tolu said that it was clear more work needed to be done to curb rampant development. 

“No place in Malta is safe and it is unacceptable,” they said. “This is why ADPD has been clear in saying that local plans must be revised and tailored to each locality, there is no one size that fits all.” 

“This is another clear example of the arrogance, corruption and abuse of the system,” Partit Popolari leader Paul Salamone said. 

“This development with ruin this area and disrupt the rural lives of all who live here.”

“The days of talk are over, it is time for people to wake up and take action.”