Here in Marsascala we have received notification from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority that yet another attractive stone two-storey house is to be demolished to make way for a block of nine apartments.

It is one of the few remaining traditional and attractive houses left in this particular road.

Almost opposite, the same thing happened some months ago and a towering concrete monstrosity now looms menacingly over the house next door.

It would seem that the term “planning” has gone out of Mepa’s vocabulary, and that construction and the building industry is now all that matters. The new application is to build eight apartments and a penthouse, but only five garages.

Allowing for the fact that there are nowadays at least two cars to each dwelling, this would leave some 13 cars without parking facilities. And this area, as any evening visitor will tell you, is already totally saturated with parked cars.

Fortunately the block where I live has parking spaces forall the flats. To consider allowing any construction without adequate parking is simple stupidity on the part of any planning authority.

In addition, each time one dwelling turns into nine or more, it means eight or nine more toilets, showers, baths, washing machines and so on. Were the original drainage systems built to take all this extra waste? I very much doubt it.

Visitors last year were appalled at the destruction of what they called “atmospheric properties”, saying that the island was “just one big building site”.

When is it going to stop and how many more concrete blocks can this island take before it sinks into the sea like Atlantis!

There are already far more than enough empty properties to accommodate every taste.

Let’s have 10 years of peace from noise, dirt, and destruction until they are all sold.