The former Mistra village site. Photo: Matthew MirabelliA “monstrous” development in Xemxija should have its outline permit revoked, according to environmental and heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa.
The fate of the project, which consists of six 12-storey blocks with an underlying car park on the site formerly occupied by the Mistra Village, will be decided by the planning authority board on Thursday.
Din l-Art Ħelwa said the development would require about 1,200 car spaces and would rise sharply and unnaturally from the edge of Xemxija ridge, creating a monstrous and permanent blot on the landscape.
It said the outline development permit was granted in 2008 in the absence of important and relevant information and should be revoked.
The NGO is invoking article 77 of the Environment and Planning Act of 2010 that seeks redress in cases where there are claims of irregularities and “error on the face of a record”.
DLĦ is also requesting the Environment and Planning Commissioner at the Ombudsman Office, David Pace, to investigate the process, which the organisation is describing as “incomplete, dubious and misleading”.
It said Mepa had not replied to its request, made in 2008, for the audit officer to investigate the “misleading” development permit application report.
Din l-Art Ħelwa hoped revocation of the outline permit might cause the developers to reconsider one of the earlier options to build three quarters of the site, up to a maximum height of four floors. The NGO said such an option would be the most acceptable, considering it was a site of immense cultural landscape value.