Tower relocation paves way for new Marsaxlokk road

The Planning Authority has approved the relocation of a historic watchtower dating back to the Knights of St John in Marsaxlokk to a nearby site. 

The relocation is being proposed to make way for a new road passing through the area currently occupied by the tower. The road will connect Triq Lepanto and Triq il-Kavallerizza.

Originally, the council wanted to relocate the tower to an ODZ area some 70m away near the locality’s football ground but is now being moved by a few metres to the north of its current location facing Triq ta’ Xerriek.

Environmentalists, including a local NGO called Marsaxlokk Heritage, fear the creation of the new road will pave the the way for urban sprawl in an area which is still completely undeveloped despite being included in the development zone in 2006.

But the council argues that the new road is necessary to improve transport connections between the Kavallerizza area, which has grown in recent years, and the rest of Marsaxlokk.

The council has submitted a restoration method statement showing how the existing tower will be dismantled and its stone and masonry numbered and stored in pallets until the tower is reassembled in the new location.

The structure, which is known as a barumbara (pigeon loft), originally served as a rural watchtower, according to the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage. The SCH which reluctantly accepted relocating the structure as a last resort had recommended adding the tower to the list of protected buildings.