Development planned 'near important archaeological sites'

Din l-Art Helwa (DLH) yesterday expressed concern over two planning applications for development in the vicinity of two archaeological sites of international importance.

One application is for a house with swimming pool within the buffer zone of the Brockdorff Circle in Xaghra, while the other is for a block of flats in Mgarr, within the protected buffer zone of the Ta' Hagrat Temple.

Both are for plots, large portions of which actually lie Outside the Development Zone (ODZ), DLH said.

The organisation called on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to "exercise the highest level of prudence" in considering these and other similar applications, recalling Malta's obligations under the 1972 Unesco World Heritage Convention.

Ta' Hagrat Temple, in particular, is protected as a Unesco World Heritage site.

The construction of new buildings or swimming pools within these buffer zones would conflict with Malta's responsibilities under the Unesco World Heritage Convention, DLH said, since a 100m buffer zone must be maintained around the periphery of Class A archaeological sites, in which no new development is to be permitted.