‘Stop The Villa Rosa Monstrosity’: Protest Against Local Plans Review Announced
A protest against the decision to review St George’s Bay’s local plans has been announced for Saturday 26th October.
Controversy erupted earlier this week when it was reported that these plans will be reviewed to accommodate the developer behind the Villa Rosa project, Anton Camilleri, otherwise known as Tal-Franċiż.
“Things are going from bad to worse at an alarming rate. Changing the local plans to accommodate Camilleri at the expense of the Maltese people, especially residents, is totally unacceptable,” Moviment Graffitti wrote when announcing the demonstration.
The event will take place on Saturday 26th October at 10.30am at St George’s Bay, St Julian’s. It will involve speakers from the Local Councils of Pembroke, St Julian’s and Swieqi.
On Wednesday, former PL MEP Cyrus Engerer called out Cabinet’s decision to partially review the locality’s local plans which could allow for this project to be “multiplied”, according to Times of Malta sources.
Engerer explained that he has been and will continue to advocate for a change in party financing laws to loosen the chokehold development lobby has over local politics and political parties.
He had even said this on One TV a while back but was censored from the programme because of it, Engerer claimed.
Camilleri’s plans to develop the site into an amalgamation of low-rise offices, shops and residences was approved in 2018 and he currently has a pending proposal to dramatically upscale the project.
The pending plans seek to develop a 34-storey tower and two 27-storey ones overlooking St George’s Bay and last year, an Environmental Impact Assessment concluded that this mega-development would majorly impact the environment and air quality.
This review could “multiply” the permitted size of the project and reduce any potential legal challenges, hence the public outrage.
Featured images via EIA
Will you be attending this event?
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