The 115-metre-long street that runs between the entrance of Ggantija Temples and Ta Kola Windmill has been hit with a fresh application for the largest development yet: a six-level block of ten flats, two maisonettes, four pools and 13 garages.
It is the latest application for blocks of flats in a neighbourhood of two-storey townhouses built in the 1970s. Three other applications for blocks of flats are currently being processed by the Planning Authority.
Several heritage NGOs, the Xaghra Local Council and Heritage Malta have all expressed fears that blocks of flats in this sensitive neighbourhood would mar the setting of the top heritage monuments, particularly Ggantija Temples, a World Heritage Site. The Xaghra Local Council also pointed out last year in an objection to one of the application that any development would set a precedent, and spawn other blocks of flats that would ruin the long-distance views of the part of Xaghra around and behind Ggantija Temples.
These fears have been compounded by the unexpected position of the heritage watchdog, the Superintendence of Cultural Haritage, which gave its blessing to the latest plans of one of the applications, a four-storey block of flats situated just 30 metres from the windmill. This website revealed in an article published last week that the same Superintendence had opposed an application for a building of similar height and narrower bulk further away from the windmill last year.
The latest application for the six-level block of flats lies adjacent to the block of flats that the Superintendence gave its blessing to. The application is currently open to feedback or representations.
This website has been extensively covering the applications for development in the area in a special reporting project named Ggantija Streetscapes.
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