Environment groups Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar and Ramblers have called on the authorities to halt the development of a villa close to the Unesco-protected Ta’ Ħaġrat temples in Mġarr.

The organisations said Malta’s rich built heritage was under threat from recent developments.

This heritage had until now been protected, such as through scheduling or by creating a buffer zone. Once protected, Malta’s treasures, like its temples and palaces could not be touched, the groups said in a press conference.

Earlier this month, the Environment and Planning Tribunal confirmed a permit for a villa to be built metres away from the Unesco-protected Ta’ Ħaġrat temples.

The hotly contested permit, approved last September, met with objections from environmentalists and voluntary groups who were shocked at the proximity of the building to the protected temples.

They argued that the permit not only violated the integrity of the temples but also set an “unfortunate precedent” allowing development not only in the extensive Skorba and Ta’ Ħaġrat Temples buffer zone but also threatening other Unesco World Heritage sites around Malta and natural conservation areas.

The buffer zone was a legislated policy that prohibited all new developments within its borders and the permit “disregards Mepa’s own policy” that no development should take place in this buffer zone.

In fact, at least three other proposed developments had been refused within the Ta’ Ħaġrat buffer zone, the groups said.