The Siġġiewi local council has begun circulating a petition among residents as it ramps up its opposition to plans to increase the size of a new social housing development in the town.

Mayor Alessia Psaila Zammit said high-density projects like this should be developed in areas where they would not be of inconvenience to current residents or cause environmental and planning problems, as well as affecting parking, traffic, infrastructure and cleanliness in the heart of Siġġiewi.

“The local council is not against social projects but has always appealed for the government to address the social sector without carrying out developments that result in new problems for the town.”

The large-scale development will include 84 apartments, sheltered housing units for the elderly and various other facilities.

In all, it will take up 4,000 square metres of vacant agricultural land in a residential area on the edge of the Siġġiewi development zone, on Triq it-Tabib Nikol Zammit, Triq L-Imdina and Triq Dun Manwel Zammit.

The government first applied for a permit for the complex back in 2006, and the Planning Authority eventually gave the go-ahead in 2013 despite objections from the council and residents over the loss of open space as well as the density and disproportionate massing of the building.

Then, earlier this year, the government submitted a new application to increase the number of apartments, reduce two parking spaces and add a substation.

Preparatory works on the site began last week, and a hearing for the amended application is currently scheduled for August 11.

The Siġġiewi council said yesterday it had made several requests to the government to reconsider the project and look at other uses for the public land. The council said it had always been consistent in its position that social projects should take place in areas suitable for such large-scale development and should not negatively impact people who already live in the area.

Residents who have written in to the PA with their own objections have argued that the sudden introduction of so many new families “would overwhelm village life and the quiet residential area”.

They have also argued that the 107 planned parking spaces would in no way be enough to cope with the increased demand, with parking and traffic issues already a major problem in the area.