Zurrieq residents seek crowdfunding as 'last chance' against threatening development

Zurrieq Residents have launched a fundraiser to cover the cost of five planning appeals against a development that it says could bring hundreds of apartments to the area.

"We have been involved in this struggle for years, and this is our final chance to stop the destruction of Nigret," a representative of the residents' group said. The group aims to raise €10,000 to use against five planning appeals.

The Żurrieq land was added to the development zone in the extension of building boundaries carried out in 2006. The residents' group previously raised funds to challenge a Planning Authority decision (PC/00049/19) that set out plans for roads and housing across the site.

In May, a letter seen by MaltaToday saw the group ask Lands Minister Owen Bonnici and two other ministers to withdraw all five applications. They argued the Planning Authority should consider the impact of the five proposals on the site as a whole.

The authority has since approved two of the five applications (PA/01847/26, PA/01042/26, PA/01822/26, PA/02814/26 and PA/03105/26). One of those approvals, granted on 18 September, covers five homes on Triq l-Iskulturi Fabri (PA/01847/26).

At the September hearing, Il-Kollettiv secretary Wayne Flask asked how water and electricity would reach the homes and whether the project would need public land for access or services. The architect said the services depended on a new road and that clearance had been issued, but did not specify where the services would run. 

The permit requires the road to be in place before construction starts. It also requires specific clearance from the Lands Authority before the permit can be acted on where the government owns or administers the land.

Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged in May to keep public land brought within development boundaries in 2006 from being used for speculative development. Bonnici later said access roads could run across public land, private land or both, with each case decided on its merits. 

“We are disappointed, but not surprised, at this empty promise. The government had called us for a meeting at the eleventh hour before the election but showed us right away they had no interest in the matter. We have no choice but to go through legal means. Together, we can do it," they group said in their final appeal to remove the pending development.

Donations can be made via Revolut or BOV Mobile Banking on +356 79333082 or through the fundraising page.