Villa to grow on Dingli’s controversial new road near medieval chapel

A real estate company wants to add a pool, paving and a receded floor atop a Dingli villa outside development zones, originally turned down by the Planning Authority.

The project was eventually approved by the appeals tribunal in 2018.

The proposed villa is at the intersection between Sqaq il-Mużew and a new road controversially developed last year by Infrastructure Malta without any planning permit, despite week-long protests by Moviment Graffitti and residents.

IM had argued that the road did required no permit because it had been included in local plans after being schemed in the 1960s, and that the road would connect two alleyways and allow access for fire engines.

The two-storey villa, belonging to Victor Bonavia, was approved just outside the development zone boundary at the edge of Sqaq il-Mużew in 2018. The site currently consists of agricultural land.

While originally the PA’s planning commission had refused the application, arguing that development in the rural area was not justified, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) chaired by present PA chairman Martin Saliba, approved it as an “end of scheme” development, arguing it would upgrade the area by eliminating a blank party wall.

The new application, adding a receded floor and ODZ pool area, was presented by ICI Ltd, a real estate company owned by Keith Attard Portughes, which now owns the whole site. As proposed, the pool area will be landscaped by a number of trees.

In the meantime, the PA still has to decide on another application presented by Bonavia for the construction of a 20sq.m agricultural store, proposed along the new road as a replacement for another room immediately next to the medieval chapel on the land expropriated by Infrastructure Malta.

Both the Environmental and Resources Authority, and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage are objecting to this application.

The ERA warned demolition and relocation of the rural structures next to the chapel could increase pressure on new buildings along the new road. The SCH also warned that the chapel is resting on and buttressed by the room being proposed for demolition.