Fontana ‘road to nowhere’ another step toward Gozo ‘building ghetto’ – DLH

Environmental NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa Għawdex has slammed a planning proposal for constructing a cul-de-sac road in Fontana, Gozo, calling it a “road to nowhere”.

DLĦ said in a statement on Thursday the project was likely to pave the way for developers to construct “a huge entirely new housing estate as block apartments with the usual ugly blank party walls”.

The proposal, PC/32/23, suggests the “creation of a cul-de-sac as an extension to the current schemed road” at Triq L-iSptar San Ġiljan. DLĦ said the proposal would “obliterate the fields which presently form a green lung amid a heavily built-up area”.

The project’s architect, Saviour Micallef, filed the proposal as a Planning Control application. PC applications regulate land use, layout of streets and building heights, but not buildings.

DLĦ Għawdex said the proposal was “quietly brought forward,” having been noticed only “due to the efforts of a few community-minded individuals”.

In the public application form for the proposal, Micallef declared himself a private individual, proposing the site for “residential use” and listing himself as the sole owner of the entire site.

Micallef has worked on several projects with Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli, having served as an architect for the infamous Sannat development, which was labelled a “monstrosity” by NGOs opposing its development.

Micallef is also behind the Għajnsielem apartment, widely criticised online for its unorthodox appearance, having a skinny 22-metre corridor as one of its facades.

In 2020, The Shift also reported on a Xagħra hotel labelled “objectionable” by the local council, for which Micallef served as an architect. The council had unanimously decided to oppose the 19-room, four-storey hotel which was situated in the middle of the town square.

DLĦ Għawdex is calling on the public to oppose the development of the cul-de-sac road, describing it as yet another step toward Gozo being “converted into a building ghetto”.

Objections may be filed here.