A sprawling concrete jungle is set to spread to a quiet block on the border between Kappara and San Ġwann adjacent to Birkirkara Road.

This tranquil, predominantly two-storey area is to be dwarfed by a proposed kerreja-style massive project of over 50 flats including a number of one-bedroom apartments, which will mar the low skyline forever.

This project will also be the cause of even more problems to an already chaotic traffic situation which gridlocks during school transport hours due to the three schools in the immediate vicinity. This will increase the incidence of asthma and other ailments as the building will trap vehicle exhaust not least from its own 100+ car underground parking garage spaces.

The entrance to the proposed residences and underground garage will be through a dead-end alley to traffic – Żbibu Lane in San Ġwann.

To make matters worse, a pharmacy recently opened and approved by the planning authority was allowed to open at the closed end, immediately opposite the garage entrance. Mepa’s own regulations state: “Other threats to amenity include excessive height relaxation, narrow streets, loss of daylight and sense of enclosure.”

This misplaced and infinitely abhorrent proposal of a building clearly ticks all these boxes – at a time when Mepa itself is striving to move towards a more sensible national plan which will hopefully remove these huge buildings from improper locations such as San Ġwann and very many other similar villages.

No one needs towering concrete blocks marring sunlight and proper breathable air in exchange for the lucre devoured by developers. Ask the residents of Balzan and Attard!