Portelli group seeks five-storey permit on Mqabba farmland

A company partly owned by Gozitan construction mogul Joseph Portelli is seeking the green light for a five-story, 43 apartment development on Mqabba farmland that was formerly outside the development zones.

The Tal-Matli site faces ODZ farmland between Mqabba and Kirkop, but was added for development in the 2006 extension of boundaries.

The local plan limits development in this part of Mqabba to three floors and a semi-basement. But CF Developers want a five-story development that will reach 17.5 metres in height.

The development covers only 1,000sq.m of the total 4,000sq.m site added to the building zones in 2006. The rest of the site is owned by the government and by one unknown owner, according to zoning documentation submitted at the PA when it set the parameters for development on the site in 2019.

Back then the Lands Authority had also issued its consent for residential development on the entire site.

If this latest application is approved, the new residential development will stand in between the ODZ boundary and undeveloped farmland owned by the government, which can be yet developed in the future.

CF Developers is owned by CF Estates, which includes Joseph Portelli among its shareholders.

Moviment Graffitti is objecting to the development, describing it as being “wholly uncharacteristic of the area.” Graffitti is also insisting that development on this site should not rise higher than the three floors allowed in the local plan, especially in view of the impact of increased density on traffic and the infrastructure. The proposed development also lies near an area where fireworks are let off.