Supermarket plan resurfaces on Fgura site despite earlier PA exclusion

Developer Anton Camilleri has submitted a zoning application to develop a supermarket on land known as Tax-Xemx u l-Qamar, along Triq id-Dejma in Fgura.

The site forms part of a larger area that previously included a scrapyard and was added to the development zone in the 2006 extension of development boundaries.

In December 2023, the Planning Authority’s Executive Council approved a zoning application allowing residential development on part of the site, community facilities on another, and a mixed-use development fronting Triq id-Dejma. A supermarket was originally proposed as part of the mixed-use area.

However, when deciding the application, the Executive Council specifically agreed to exclude the development of a supermarket.

It later emerged that the council had erroneously approved a plan that still referred to a supermarket on the site, despite its decision to exclude it.

Camilleri was informed of this error in a letter dated 6 May 2025. In it, the secretary of the Executive Council clarified that a corrected plan, excluding the supermarket, had been approved by the minister on 7 April.

However, in the interim, on 11 April, Camilleri submitted a zoning application based on the previously approved, erroneous plan. The application seeks “to identify and specifically delineate the zoning, square meterage and location for the planned supermarket development.”

This application was validated on 7 July and is set to go out for public consultation on 6 August.

The Fgura local council had previously objected to supermarket plans on another part of the same site, when Lidl proposed a similar development in 2017.

During the public hearing on Camilleri’s earlier zoning application, the local council’s architect noted that the relevant local plan policy did not identify the site as suitable for a supermarket. Former Executive Chairman Oliver Magro also raised concerns about including a supermarket in the plans.

In response, Camilleri argued that a supermarket would bring significant benefits to residents by improving walkable access to essential services. 

Anton Camilleri, the developer of the project, is the same developer behind Villa Rosa also known as il-franciz

However, the Fgura council warned the area already suffers from heavy traffic congestion, especially during peak hours, and that a supermarket would further increase traffic—particularly supply vehicles—on the arterial road leading to Marsaskala, Xgħajra, Żabbar, and parts of Cottonera.

Following these concerns, the executive chairman recommended removing the supermarket from the proposal.

At that point, Camilleri’s architect clarified that the plan was only for a small, local-use supermarket and requested that its size be capped at 500 square metres.

Ultimately, Camilleri’s original zoning application was approved, but only after the proposed supermarket was removed from the plans.