Dingli villas at hamlet’s edge ‘excessive’

Four detached villas with two pools are being proposed on agricultural land along Triq Misraħ is-Suffara in Dingli, including landscaping works which includes hard pavements, ramps and a number of new trees.

The proposed development lies partly outside development zones (ODZ) and partly within a rural hamlet where the construction of new dwellings is allowed. Each unit will be two floors with basement, and a 65sq.m footprint.

Applicant Nazzareno Tanti had been granted an outline permit to construct a 150sq.m farmer’s residence in 2007 with the permit being confirmed in 2012. It was approved as an ‘end of scheme’ development abutting an existing blank party wall. But another application by the same family to construct two maisonettes on the site was turned down in 2011.

New dwellings are allowed in rural hamlets like the one at Misraħ is-Suffara on condition that each new dwelling does not exceed a floor area of 150sq.m and each unit is larger than 120sq.m.

But the policy also states that new buildings have to respect “the character of the settlement and its surrounding rural environment.”

The Environment and Resources Authority is objecting to the development noting that the site is undeveloped and agricultural in nature. “The proposed development is of significant concern from an environmental point of view since it will entail the take-up of fresh land through excessive formalisation.” It also said the development is expected to contribute to over-development of the rural area with adverse, cumulative environmental impacts which will “jeopardise the overall character of the area”.