The Planning Board requested the applicant of a proposed new apartment block which is close to the Grade 1 Ta’ Kola windmill in Xagħra to further reduce its overall height.

Although the board said that the proposed building is well below the maximum height limitation for the area and is not going to have a significant impact on the windmill, they also requested the applicant to recede the upper floor to neutralise the creation of blank party walls.

This comes as the PA postponed a final decision on this block.

Additionally to this, the applicant was requested to slightly amend the design of the façade to make it more homogenous with the existing streetscape and properties in the surrounding
piazza area.

The residential block proposed by developer Mark Xerri includes two ground-floor garages, an overlying maisonette with pool and six apartments at first, second and third-floor levels. The board deferred the case until the revised drawings are submitted and evaluated.

This development is proving to be a bit of a hot potato.

Located 30 meters from Ta’ Kola Windmill and 260 meters from Ġgantija Temples, some of the oldest freestanding buildings in the World, any alteration to the locality is a contentious issue. The temples are a World Heritage Site.

Ta’ Kola Windmill is one of the few surviving windmills on the Maltese Islands dating from the Knights’ period. The 200-year-old building is a living testimony to our forefathers’ way of life, marked with hardships and daily struggles.