A number of Mosta residents are furious about plans to build over 650 apartments on the untouched Tad-Dib fields next to the Mosta cemetery.
Preparations are underway to develop over 150 plots into residential areas, comprising three storeys of apartments together with semi-basements, penthouses and garages, according to the Save Tad-Dib Action Group.
The plans also specify that there would be no front gardens, leading the group to describe the proposed project as a "modern slum".
"We can't really protest against the development because this is one of the pockets earmarked for development by the government's rationalisation scheme in 2006. But why fill up a place like this with five-storey blocks with no front gardens?" spokesman Albert McCarthy told The Times.
As a resident in the area, Mr McCarthy was given a copy of the architect's plans for the project. He said the least that could be done would be to leave some open spaces or add a playground.
His group, however, is calling on the government to develop the land into Malta's first eco-village by retaining features from typical Maltese farmhouses such as single-storey buildings with thick walls and high ceilings, as well as artisan wells to store rainwater for domestic and agricultural use.
"Such a project would be a showpiece. This would not only complement the Ta' Qali National Park but will also encourage a vital new niche market still untapped in Malta - ecotourism."
He described the area as the only breathing space left in Mosta and said the land was ideal for agriculture.
The group will soon launch a petition on this issue in the hope that their pleas translate into action.
The opposition to this development is shared with environmental organisation Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, which has an ongoing court case against the government to reverse the rationalisation scheme and stop development of green areas such as Tad-Dib.
The case was filed by FAA together with Friends of the Earth and the Ramblers Association, as well as 125 residents of different areas that would be affected by the scheme.
cperegin@timesofmalta.com