As a foreigner, a service provider to both Maltese and other foreigners and one who has brought property in Malta – on the road that the Mistra Monstrosity is to be built upon – I am disgusted by the approval by Mepa of the tragedy that is the Mistra development.

The approval of 12 floors (774 apartments) next to a national heritage park is an environmental disaster and yet another blight on the landscape of Malta.

The added burden on already overstretched resources such as water does not seem to have been factored into the decision to grant permission for the Mistra Monstrosity, neither has the effect on residents, recreational users and local small farmers of having to accommodate such a large development.

The abdication of its responsibility by Transport Malta, which has taken the stance that the increase in traffic (1,600 estimated cars), does not matter as the problem in Xemxija is already bad, is shocking.

I promote Malta to foreigners, including those who wish to settle and/or buy property here, but how can I when decisions are made that ignore planning rules and good sense? Should I start with a caveat: “Buy property in Malta, but don’t think about relying on any security or comfort in its planning regulations”?

My father was from the Caribbean island of Grenada, where the general unwritten rule for preserving the skyline is that no building should be higher than a coconut palm. As a result, foreigners such as Oprah Winfrey have purchased property there – perhaps I should have gone nuts instead of having to go bananas?

Geraldine Noel

UK Barrister, registered in Malta

Managing Partner