Mosta residents are protesting the commercial development of a square originally earmarked for a community centre in the Santa Margerita area.
Some 700 families that live in the area want the square to remain an open space, as it has been for the past 30 years.
Residents were yesterday joined by Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, an environmental group, to voice their concerns in a protest to draw the planning authority’s attention.
The square, located in the neighbourhood of the 17th-century chapel of St Margaret, was designated as developable as a community centre in the 2006 local plan.
The developer is insisting the proposed project, which includes a mix of commercial development and community facilities, falls within the designation of the 2006 local plan.
However, the residents are contesting this, insisting the development is nothing more than a commercial venture that will kill off the only open space in the area, which has served as a gathering place.
“This site is indispensable for the social cohesion of the community, as all the activities organised by the residents of Santa Margerita – such as open-air masses and other religious functions, social manifestations and other occasions – bring together a considerable number of people,” the residents said in their objections.
They insisted the square was “the lung” of the zone and will be reduced to narrow streets and more buildings if the planning authority gave the go ahead for the project. They said it would also increase traffic congestion and decrease existing parking bays.
Astrid Vella from FAA said people had come to the “ridiculous point” of not only fighting for the countryside but for a stretch of tarmac to prevent residents from getting engulfed by ever more development.
“This site provides the space for events that bring the residents of this new area together as a community, so this is not just an environmental health issue of over-development bringing more traffic and air pollution while reducing light and air. This is also a matter of community interest,” Ms Vella said.