An application to turn a low-lying house in a residential area in Xagħra into a block of apartments within 120 metres from the Ġgantija temples has been reopened for public scrutiny after the Planning Authority decided that it should be reprocessed as a full application process.
Originally filed as a summary process application, which is usually decided much quicker than a full process application, usually in a matter of months if the proposed development meets all the necessary requirements, this means that the period of objections from the public has also been reopened and lengthened to six weeks.
An application is typically recommended for reprocessing if it doesn’t quite meet the criteria to be filed under the application type it was submitted in or if a stakeholder objects and asks for the application type to be reviewed.
According to the guidelines set out by the Planning Authority, construction of new residential buildings which do not create more than 16 dwelling units with parking facilities are permissible under a summary application, as long as this is not proposed within an urban conservation area, outside the development zone or in designated villa or bungalow areas.
Proposed by Carmel Attard and architect Alexander Bigeni, application PA/04352/21 seeks to demolish the existing house at 38, Triq Mikiel Farrugia, in Xagħra and construct three apartments and a penthouse with underlying garages, domestic stores and a pool.
The area in question, a housing estate consisting mainly of two-storey buildings, is close to several culturally significant sites including the Ġgantija Neolithic temples, the Xagħra Circle and the Ta’ Kola windmill, all of which are scheduled sites in Gozo. The Ġgantija temple complex is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Xagħra mayor Christian Zammit has called on Attard, who was recently the recipient of a Ġieħ ix-Xagħra award, to “discard or amend” the proposal in order to “preserve the skyline of Ġgantija and the Ta’ Kola windmill”.
“For all of the reasons outlined in the council’s detailed objection to the proposal, I sincerely call on him to reconsider this,” Zammit told Times of Malta.
“I think we should take the fact that Liverpool lost its status as a UNESCO World Heritage due to overdevelopment as a wake-up call. We are not immune to consequences and I truly believe that the proposed development does not tally with an area meant to serve as a buffer for Ġgantija.
“If approved, it will also set a precedent for the height limitation in the residential estate, which, honestly, does not make sense; it would totally ruin the streetscape and skyline of our village.”
Raising concerns about the considerable height increase of the project, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage in June asked the applicant to submit point of view images of the existing property from the windmill, Ġgantija and the Xagħra Circle, as well as photomontages of the proposed development as it would be seen from the same points. It is not clear whether this exercise has been carried out as such imagery is yet to be made publicly available.
The SCH also advised that plans for a swimming pool may have to be revised due to a restriction that forbids excavation in the culturally sensitive area.
Earlier this year, an application in Ġgantija Heights, Xagħra proposed the construction of 31 apartments and 20 garages within the Ġgantija temples’ buffer zone. That application was suspended following a public outcry.