As the saga of the new development zones continues, people who live in the superb villas and bungalows perched on the Mellieha skyline, known as the Santa Marija Estate, are understandably irate about a Cabinet decision that allows the massive sprawling development at Tas-Sellum to rise further into the air, which will obliterate their sea view and intrude on their privacy.

A resident who contacted this paper complained that his detached bungalow (which was bought at a hefty price and which obviously included a premium for the sea view) would now lose most of its value with the Tas-Sellum development that is growing alarmingly taller.

The photo reproduced on this page clearly shows that a block of flats has now dwarfed a bungalow in Santa Maria Estate. Not only has the owner of this house lost his sea view for which Santa Maria Estate is renowned, but also he now has windows overlooking his house that invade his privacy.

The second photo shows the bungalows (left) at Santa Maria Estate, which are all one storey in height and this new block of flats, which is six storeys high.

This piece of land was supposed to be a buffer zone between the bungalows at Santa Maria Estate and the terraced houses at Tas Sellum. Cabinet is now proposing to allow further floors to be built at Tas Sellum.

The resident has also filed a formal objection against Cabinet’s proposal to MEPA referring to Floor Area Ration (MAP B3) for medium rise buildings at Tas-Sellum, Mellieha, a copy of which has been seen by The Malta Independent on Sunday.

In the objection it is stated that the area recommended clearly infringes MEPA’s guidelines (MAP 2) regarding “Inappropriate Locations for Tall Buildings” especially on the higher level of the site.

The two conditions are, settlements on steeply sloping terrain and settlements on high elevated grounds towards the cliff of Mellieha. Referring to the MEPA document (Map 6) regarding “Appropriate locations for tall buildings” which states: “Buildings should be predominantly offices preferably tourism or leisure mixed commercial.”

Residents are claiming that this site does not satisfy any of the above conditions since Tas Sellum and the adjacent Santa Maria Estate are residential areas.

They maintain that by allowing the new Tas Sellum development (PA 2650/04), MEPA has extended the boundaries of Santa Maria Estate, as this development is only feet away from the bungalows. Cabinet’s proposal will undermine the topography of the area.

“In its approval of PA 2650/04, MEPA had also paid particular attention and imposed restrictions to ensure a smooth transition between the low density area and the new project and had removed one storey on the Santa Maria side.”

They said that if Cabinet recommends and MEPA allows medium sized buildings to be constructed, thus allowing more storeys to be built, then the authority would be contradictory in its restrictions and breaking its own rules.

”The residents (myself included) whose bungalows lie on the perimeter of Santa Maria Estate have already suffered enough due to the noise, pollution, loss of use of our terraces and ultimately, six-storey buildings that have dwarfed our residence and invaded our privacy, as PA 2650/04 allowed the construction of balconies and windows directly overlooking our property.”

The resident also commented on the unsafe terrain of this area.

“Our properties have already suffered damages from the new construction. Cabinet has also recommended that building permits be refused on the upper part due to the movement of clay.”