Munxar mayor Damien Spiteri is concerned about the “excessive level of development” in Xlendi and has called for reflection over how this will affect the locality in the long-term.

Xlendi falls under the Munxar local council.

"We, as a council, have been consistent, stressing the need for excessive development to be controlled and move towards sustainable development, not only in terms of high-rise but also in terms of the aesthetics of buildings." 

Contacted by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Spiteri said that while over the past weeks there was an uproar over the Xlendi boathouse restaurant development, the area’s situation has long been a problem.

“When looking at the surrounding area, the part behind is developed to the same number of floors and the rest of the front has seen a number of excessive developments of the same type. Unfortunately, the situation has been deteriorating for years."

Speaking about development in the locality in general, he questioned whether it makes sense to continue allowing the creation of apartments without necessary garage spaces.

"Does it still make sense to allow developers to pay a fine to compensate for lack of parking spaces within their development, when in Xlendi the parking problem is not solved through such funds? It is true that the money can be used for other projects, but the parking issue remains."

He also brought up the issue of waste collection. "Do apartment blocks have areas within the site where waste could be placed before it is collected by the local council? Or should a building with 20 apartments see everyone take out their garbage next to the entrance?"

He said the local council has made a number of recommendations to the Planning Authority and had held meetings with the authority as well.

"There were situations where we even formally objected to certain developments. What is unfortunate is that the policies in Xlendi are what they are and as such many developments are being given the green light by the Planning boards as they act on the existing policies."

"We need development which, aesthetically, people would enjoy looking at. Abroad you walk through streets with seven/eight-floor-buildings, but they would have beautiful visual characteristics. We could use Maltese stone, wood and not aluminium for apertures for instance. We need to start thinking with this mentality and not just about building quickly to fit in as many flats as possible. Right now we are focusing more on the standard of living than the quality of life.”

Asked whether it is too late for Xlendi, he said that it is for some parts, but not for others. "Along the Xlendi front, it is a bit too late when all the properties, except for a few, have risen by all those floors." The expectation is that the remaining sites, in the future, would likely follow the others, he said.

"There are other roads that are residential which, ideally, would see policies corrected. We are not against development but we want aesthetically-pleasing sustainable development, which is in line with the characteristics of our streets."

Asked whether the PA has let the council down with the policies it applied, and if it should have taken action years ago, he said that things have moved from one extreme to the other.

"In the past, we used to say that Gozo was like a crib and that the island needed development to move forward. Today, unfortunately, we have excessive, uncontrolled development that, aesthetically, is not doing any good. The island has gone from one extreme to the other. I am not an architect and am not very knowledgeable of the technicalities, but in general I think we need a reshuffle of sorts and we need to look beyond the question of high rise and look at the way buildings are constructed, aesthetics and the use of public space. Should we have certain streetscapes regulated or allow architects to propose any design for a building they want?”

"If we build beautifully, the question of issues regarding height would not be as problematic. You need to look at the contrast between the different buildings."

He believes that the PA needs to look at the permits which have already been issued over the years and see what effects they have had on society in Xlendi. “What have the permits granted in Xlendi contributed to the locality? Have they beautified the area? Has it resulted in people not wanting to reside in the locality? Where do we envisage Xlendi in five to ten years’ time? The response is that we need to see what we are going to do.”

The current kind of development being seen in the area is "concerning" he said. "We need to see what the result of the current development will be, whether we are killing the goose that laid the golden egg as Xlendi is known as a tourism centre. We need to look at aesthetics, encroachment on public areas. There is also a need for proper investment in infrastructure (in terms of lighting, roads, sewage and even of the bay area). I won’t use the word masterplan as that brings delays to mind; I would rather we go for short-term projects which tie together over the long-term, to improve the area."