Residents object to Zebbug seven-storey home for elderly

Residents in Ħaż-Żebbuġ are objecting to a seven-storey high home for the elderly, proposed in a residential area facing the countryside and just 35m away from the Tal-Għodor windmill, a Knights-era structure that enjoys Grade 1 protection.

The development will include four underground levels for cars, and other facilities, a chapela hall, retail area, pharmacy and clinic, and 98 rooms in six overlying floors.

The building is proposed on a site where the Planning Authority in 2019 had already approved two blocks of five storeys for 30 dwellings, also proposed by Fulani Properties, the promoters of the old people’s home.

Existing policies allow the addition of two storeys on old people’s homes, over and above height limits established in local plans, in order to address the country’s shortage of old people’s homes.

The home will reach a height of 24m, making it 6.5m higher than the height limit in the area, which is predominantly formed by two-storey terraced houses.

Residents fear the creation of a blank party wall that will overhang the one-storey garages found next to the windmill.

The PA has already received nearly 200 objections in the past days. Residents expressed concern on the height of the project and its traffic impact. Some also expressed concern that the excavation of four underground levels would endanger an old underground reservoir found in the areas which they claim is interconnected to gardens found in Żebbuġ’s urban conservation area.