‘We Are Terrified’: ‘Monstrous’ Madliena Development Set To Replace Religious Retreat
Residents of Madliena have expressed their fear over a ‘monstrous’ development of an elderly home that is set to replace the Porziuncola Retreat House, which was used by the Franciscan friars as a religious retreat until a few months ago.
The plans, which were approved by a planning case officer, outline the development of a massive elderly home, counting more than 20 metres in height on a footprint of 2.450 sqm.
It will be built in the middle of a neighbourhood of one-storey bungalows in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, ruining the beauty and integrity of the area, and affecting the lives of all that live there.
The project’s applicant is Katari Holdings, which is owned by GAP’s Paul Attard, and its architect is Colin Zammit, who courted controversy after revelations that the government handed out a €700,000 direct order for a project that was never carried out.
The area was also defined in the 2006 zoning plan to be an area for a “religious retreat”, strictly prohibiting any change of use, therefore such development is going against the local plans.
Lovin Malta spoke to a group of residents in the area to hear more about the ways in which the development will affect them and the surrounding environment, who will also be taking legal action to protect their neighbourhood.
“We are terrified. The planned development is completely out of proportion. We fear for losing all that brought us here and all that we love – the grace and tranquillity of this area, the privacy of our homes, the peacefulness for our families, all this would be lost,” one resident told Lovin Malta.
Renderings showing now vs. post development
“It would be such a blow to the rule of law that we all relied on when we bought our homes, it feels like being abandoned and expropriated,” he said.
Development plans outline the redevelopment of the area into a retirement home complex of 200 units in order to be exploited commercially, increasing occupancy on the plot by more than 600% and more than doubling the building volume.
Several of the most fundamental norms for permits seem also to have been ignored, which state, for example, that the profile and building envelope of development are to be “compatible with that of buildings on the adjoining plots and visually appropriate and will not result in excessive bulk or mass”.
The residents all expressed being blindsided by the development, as the mandatory development notices showing the Planning Authority permit number were not even up in the area.
“If the project goes ahead, this will mean goodbye to various villa sea views in the neighbourhood, it will mean that all of a sudden the population in the area will go from around 50 people to some 250 people (including workers at the home),” another resident said.
Renderings showing now vs. post development
“The livelihood of all the neighbourhood will be affected, the aesthetics of the area will be forever negatively affected as the building design is monstrous and ugly apart from the fact that it’s like a small tower in the midst of villas,” he explained.
Residents also lamented on how such a clear no-change rule on the permitted use was even broken in the first place, even more so given the short amount of time that this all occurred within.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the coast road ends up looking like the Sliema front in a decade’s time. All of Malta is just going to become one big high rise,” another resident said.
Many also pondered on how such development was even approved in the first place, which ultimately may set a dangerous precedent for increased building height in the area.
Share to raise awareness
READ NEXT: 'We Condemn It': Report Filed Over Nadur Mayor And Nationalist MP's Brother's Illegal Dumping
