A block of apartments adjacent to a mega complex linked to developer Joseph Portelli has been greenlit by the Planning Authority. 

The approved application is for the construction of five maisonettes and 15 apartments over three levels as well as a further three apartments on top of an existing block. 

The site will be partially built over undeveloped land and partially over a block of recently built apartments. The application was filed by one of Portelli’s business partners, Mark Agius. 

The site of the development also lies on the same street where a trio of applications by Portelli, Agius and Daniel Refalo form a massive residential development of 125 apartments, just 300 metres away from the idyllic Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs, which is a Natura 2000 site and a designated special area of conservation. 

Speaking on behalf of Moviment Graffitti, objector Rachel Baldacchino said the application was deceptively filed as a standalone development when it would be clearly forming part of the already approved block in Sannat, to bypass the scrutiny that would come with applying for such a large project. 

Critics of development in Sannat Heights have termed the phenomenon ‘salami slicing’ and have accused developers of purposely splitting up the development to evade the more stringent analysis that would have to be carried out to determine the footprint of the project, such as an environmental impact assessment report. 

Despite being a small application, it still formed part of a mega-block, Baldacchino argued and thus was a cause for concern in terms of protecting the valuable natural land of the Kantra Valley and the Sannat cliffs. 

The size and scale of the development, she added, would serve to continue uglifying and destroying the fabric of the country. 

'Destroying farmland, shooting ourselves in the foot'

“This development will continue destroying agricultural land which we cannot afford to spare,” she said. 

“In the context of war, where we are feeling the pinch of inflation on our food prices, instead of protecting farmers, we are taking up their land and we are shooting ourselves in the foot,” she said. 

“I don’t come here because I have some sort of private interest in the area, I came and present these objectives because when our children come to the land in the future, I want there to still be something for them to enjoy. So in the name of the public, I implore you to protect our land, protect our villages and protect our farmers.” 

Architect Joseph Bondin said that while he sympathised with objectors’ arguments on the need to safeguard natural land, in this case, while the site was undeveloped, it was not agricultural land and had formed part of the development zone since the formation of the 2006 local plans. 

The site was also on a corner with an existing building and there was no valid reason at law to vote against granting the application. 

The application was approved unanimously by board members Stephania Baldacchino and Mirielle Fsadni.