Grave threat to village environment

I read with interest Hector Borg's letter Hazards Of Village Core Development (June 5) and I'm really glad that those who commented in the blog as well as the village's local council, supported his stance.

The preservation of our rural and village environment should be an absolute priority. As one blogger pointed out, what is the point of establishing development zones if the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is then willing to "negotiate" the admissibility of building outside them?

No interest in such properties from the community is foreseeable for the next few years given that the market is flooded with property; the possibility of a private individual building outside a development zone should not even be taken into consideration.

Having said so, this is not the only peril to the village environment in our locality and in others. The height and style of new buildings being erected, the penthouse folly that is underway and the facility with which four - or five - storey buildings crop up adjacent to smaller and more traditional dwellings, even in the villages' traditional core, constitute another major threat.

My point is not that there should be no space for modern architecture in traditional villages; that these are turned into animated presepji. My point is that utmost care should be taken so that any new dwellings should respect and harmonise with what already exists, in terms of style, height and skyline.

More importantly, an effort should be made to stop considering the construction industry as the gravy tray where everyone seeks his/her serving. Mepa and other authorities should start considering any proposal by assessing what the interest of the community is, ahead of that of the individual developer.