A permit application for an “out-of-context” five-storey development in Xagħra is threatening to destroy the quiet rural village’s character and community, objectors fear, as “unacceptable” height limitations and blank party walls continue to spread across the island.

The proposed apartment blocks of 16 flats, four penthouses and four roof-level pools, highlight the major problem caused by the replacement of three floors with five “across the board”, says restoration architect Joanna Spiteri Staines, who is representing Xagħra homeowners objecting to the project.

They join the chorus of Gozitan mayors who recently expressed disquiet over a wave of five-storey blocks that have been mushrooming in villages over the years and ruining the island’s unique urban fabric.

The Planning Authority Directorate, which recommends the project for approval, says the proposed development respects the allowable height and context. Though appearing excessive when compared to adjoining buildings, these would eventually be developed up to the same height, it says.

But that is part of the problem for Spiteri Staines, a council member of environment and heritage NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa.

She and the British Berry family, who have long-standing ties to the island, maintain the project shows “complete disregard for its surroundings, creating a conflict with the vernacular architecture, disrespecting the one- to three-storey streetscape, and resulting in an overpowering structure”.

The development permit application report states that no “transition” is required because the proposed site is located on the opposite side of the Urban Conservation Area.

But Spiteri Staines argues that this is “a mere 27 metres” away, highlighting the lack of a proper buffer zone between village cores and developments.

Moreover, an unsightly blank party wall, rising 16 metres, would overlook the back gardens of houses that front the UCA.

Simon Berry (second from right) enjoying Gozo’s unspoilt natural environment with family members.

Planners are “failing at their job, the essence of which is to look at a situation holistically and not just rubberstamping”, she says.

These party walls of five floors are even visible from a plane

She notes that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has also called for the required transition between the UCA and development zones as well as the avoidance of blank walls overlooking the conservation area.

“These party walls of five floors are even visible from a plane,” she laments, pointing out that, in this case, another would also be seen from Nadur and “disfigure” a main artery from Ramla Bay.

Meanwhile, the second block in the development would overlook a privately owned alley that is two metres wide at most, with a further impact on the surroundings.

The proposed height of the block hinges on the widening of the narrow dead-end, which is considered by the directorate to be a schemed public road already committed to other development.

The block of flats would overlook this narrow, dead-end alleyway.

But the architect says the first part of the cul-de-sac cannot be opened. She questions what sense there is in creating an inaccessible road to nowhere but a ridge edge in the second section, calling the idea “ridiculous”.

A building on a public road can rise to four floors plus penthouse, she explains. This “loophole” has enabled the developer to apply for the block overlooking the alley.

“Gozo is very much about alleyways, which are part of its morphology,” she says.

Frequenting Gozo since 1976, Simon Berry is concerned about the “erosion and loss” of the local community that the looming project can bring about.

While it does not directly affect his 350-year-old farmhouse, he and others are concerned about the entire area and not just their own backyard. Bought with a view to retiring there, the prospect is starting to look less exciting, with developments “just making the whole place less desirable”.

While not averse to development and progress, Berry, who spends much of the year in Gozo, maintains this sort of overdevelopment cannot be “to the benefit of the select few at the unacceptable expense of the local community”.

This is not Xlendi, but a traditional, residential community, which does not need more empty flats, he says. He predicts a partly vacant, half-finished building of holiday homes, full of debris, bringing more noise, congestion, parking problems and rubbish.

“The chances are that foreign residents and investors, who bring significant year-round spending, employment and more visitors, will eventually start selling their properties and leaving if things continue this way,” he says.