Heritage NGO Wirt iż-Żejtun has objected to an application to turn a residence on ODZ land into a care home for people with disabilities, saying the development would be too close to the country’s last surviving steam mill from the 19th century.
The application, PA/07353/21, was submitted by disability advocacy NGO Fondazzjoni Wens. It seeks to turn the existing single-storey building in Żejtun into a residential home on three floors with underground parking spaces.
While acknowledging the need for such homes and the philanthropic effort of the foundation, objectors “fail to understand” why this site was chosen, given that it is outside the development zone and falls within 50 metres of a heritage building.
Wirt iz-Żejtun president Ruben Abela, an architect, said the site was located along a major distributor road and away from the town’s community life.
“Without going into the merits of social inclusion, the proposal includes a three-storey building with an additional setback floor along a row of old buildings that respect the rural context,” he said.
“Most of them are single-storey in height. The proposal is completely out of context with the otherwise rural setting.”
He said that if the application was approved, the historic building, a 19th century industrial steam mill, would completely lose its context.
The mill is believed to be the last surviving one of its kind in Malta. A similar structure in Victoria was demolished to make way for a shopping mall in the 1990s, Abela said.
50 scheduling proposals
Wirt iż-Żejtun has included the building in a list of more than 50 in the locality to be proposed for scheduling by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Planning Authority. So far, however, none have been scheduled.
“Unfortunately, this is the third case in which a proposed development will be impinging on properties that we have proposed for scheduling,” Abela said.
“Since the introduction of the Development Planning Act in 1992, only a few hundred properties around Malta and Gozo have been scheduled. The absolute majority of sites and buildings meriting such legal protection have still to be scheduled.
“It is absolutely shameful that after 30 years the Planning Authority has failed to issue a complete and exhaustive list of scheduled buildings and sites.”
Neighbours in the surrounding area also told Times of Malta they were concerned that a three-storey building in what is mostly a rural setting would attract projects of a similar height.
“It would change the landscape of the street and put the other properties in jeopardy,” said one resident who asked not to be named.
“It would have a domino effect. With the new height I’m pretty sure that contractors would come forward to build up the other houses.”
The one-storey building proposed for redevelopment into a three-floor residential home in Żejtun.