Developers are still trying to turn a baroque garden in Għaxaq into apartments, despite the development application having been turned down and the property scheduled, conservationists said.

Flimkien Ghall Ambjent Ahjar’s Astrid Vella on Wednesday told reporters that the developers had recently resubmitted an application to turn Palazzo Giannin and its sprawling garden into some 30 apartments.

“This is an application that was submitted in 2005, it was turned down, and in 2013 the property was scheduled. But in this ‘pro-business, make hay while the sunshines environment, developers still want to turn this heritage gem into a development,” Ms Vella said.

Standing in the gardens of Palazzo Giannin’s twin property, Villa Mekech, also in Għaxaq, Ms Vella said the siege on the national heritage was worse today than it had been in the 1970s.

“This is the worst destruction of our heritage since the war,” Ms Vella said.

The gardens of Villa Mekech, were saved from development following efforts by conservationists to schedule the property back in 2013. It has since been bought by a foreign family that holidays in it.

FAA has collected some 1,700 objections to the proposed development of Palazzo Giannin. They have been handed over to the Planning Authority.

“There are alternatives to building apartments, like was done with Villa Mekech, or turning a palazzo into a boutique hotel for instance,” Ms Vella said.

Owner's reaction

In a reaction, John Paris, one of the owners of Palazzo Giannin denied that there were plans to turn the garden into apartments.

"What we are trying to do is to develop 25% of the garden. The remainder of the garden (75%) will be left as an embellished garden. Today the garden is an abandoned overgrown field," he said.

He also pointed out that the scheduling of the site occurred after the Outline Development Permit was granted, which made the scheduling null and void. 

Mr Paris insisted that the owners were not developers.