Proposed Lija-Balzan apartment block would ‘obliterate’ green lung – ADPD

Lija’s famous citrus-scented breeze may soon carry the clang of scaffolding rather than the perfume of orange blossom if a new six-storey apartment block gets the green light on the edge of the village’s last surviving swathe of agricultural land. ADPD (Alternattiva Demokratika – Partit Demokratiku) has sounded the alarm, warning that the proposed development on Triq is-Summit would “obliterate the green lung that keeps Lija and Balzan breathable”.

The site, wedged between the baroque Parish Church of the Transfiguration and the 18th-century Villa Bologna, is currently a patchwork of gnarled olive groves, carob trees and terraced vegetable plots that locals call “the silent valley”. For generations, families from both villages have walked its paths on Sunday mornings after Mass, children hunting for the tiny wild iris that sprouts between the stones. A 94-year-old Lija resident, Ċensa Borg, told Hot Malta she still picks capers along the rubble walls her grandfather built: “If they pour concrete over them, they pour concrete over my memories.”

ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci toured the site on Saturday flanked by residents waving orange cardboard trees. “This is not just about one planning application,” she said, brandishing a satellite map showing how the parcel links directly to the Wied il-Fiddien valley system. “It’s about the cumulative death by a thousand cuts that is turning Malta into a single, continuous construction site.” The party is urging the Planning Authority to refuse the development and instead open the area to the public as a nature park, citing a 2021 ERA survey that found the valley hosts four species of orchid and Malta’s last viable hedgehog population north of the airport.

The developer, Summit Developments Ltd, insists the project meets all zoning rules. Their architect told Hot Malta the block will replace “abandoned, overgrown fields” with 34 “high-end” apartments, underground parking and a communal roof garden. Renderings show glass balconies overlooking a 25-metre pool where artichokes now grow. “There is no ODZ land involved,” the spokesman emphasised, referring to the Outside Development Zone designation that usually protects rural pockets. Yet aerial photos reveal the plot is barely 80 metres from ODZ boundaries, a sliver of turf that campaigners say will be next if the precedent is set.

Local councillors are split. Lija’s Labour-majority council voted narrowly last month to “take note” of the application without objection, while Balzan’s PN-led council has formally objected, echoing residents’ concerns about traffic on the already-clogged Triq il-Kbira. “One more exit onto that road and morning gridlock will stretch right past the Belvedere,” warned Balzan mayor Angelo Micallef, referring to the ornate 19th-century folly that crowns Lija’s hill and features on every tourist brochure. A traffic impact assessment submitted by the developer claims the project will generate only 27 extra car journeys at peak hour – a figure met with derision by residents who have started a Facebook group, “Salva l-Widna”, that gained 2,300 members in three days.

The timing is politically delicate. Parliament is currently debating amendments to the 2021 rural policy that could make it easier to reclassify agricultural land. Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, whose own constituency office overlooks Lija’s parish square, has so far declined to comment on the specific application, saying the PA must be allowed to “follow due process”. Yet PA board member and ADPD candidate Ralph Cassar argues that process itself is skewed. “The policy invites piecemeal applications like this one, slicing up green gaps until nothing is left,” he said during Saturday’s walk.

On Sunday morning, as church bells rang out over the honey-coloured limestone rooftops, volunteers distributed flyers after Mass urging parishioners to submit objections before the 24 May deadline. “We are not against progress,” insisted 28-year-old Lija resident Luke Azzopardi, who runs a craft brewery in Mosta. “But if we keep replacing valleys with balconies, the only thing we’ll be brewing is regret.”

Whether the Planning Authority agrees will hinge on its next board meeting in June. Until then, the scent of orange blossom still lingers – but for how much longer?