Villa Busietta to be demolished – massive development in Xlendi
Gerald Fenech
The quiet seaside resort of Xlendi is to be singularly affected by the development of around 200 apartments, penthouses and garages, on the site where the imposing Villa Busietta now stands, MaltaToday can reveal.
An outline development permit (PA 0625/06) has been granted for the site, located at Triq ir-Rumani c/w Triq il-Bizantini, for the construction of garages for private cars, apartments and penthouses.
The outline permit has been approved, with the Development Control Commission unanimously voting in favour on 19 January. The decision was posted publicly on 29 January.
The villa, for many years a private residence, is set in ample grounds and is fondly recalled by the locals as it was practically the only building in the Xlendi Heights areas, which is now overrun by several apartment blocks. Although it has some original features the villa is not scheduled, so there is no real obstacle to its eventual demolition.
Sources who operate a guesthouse and rent apartments in the area told MaltaToday that this development will further ruin an area which already has parking problems, especially in summer, apart from the considerable inconvenience it will cause to tourists and visitors when construction work begins.
“This huge development will cause considerable damage to our already fragile tourist business, with JCB excavations starting at 6am in the morning, dust, trucks and heavy machinery,” the guesthouse owner complained. “When tourists come to our island to rest all that will be seen will be yet another construction site eyesore. They will be faced with hundreds of more empty shell form apartments as is the case already but even worse. We already have a major parking problem in Triq ir-Rumani, with this new development making things even worse, from bad to a total disaster.”
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