Two stately mansions in Tas-Silg could make way for 10 villas

Two stately old mansions lining up a picturesque semi-rural road adorned by the lush greenery growing on their grounds, could be replaced by 10 new villas if a recently presented application is approved.

The two villas whose extensive grounds cover 3,830sq.m are in Triq il-Patrijiet Terezjani, a road which connects the Madonna Tas-Silg chapel and the junction leading to the fishing village.

Built before 1968, the two villas are strikingly similar in their architectural style to some of the villas lining up the Ta’ Xbiex promenade. But the area has already seen the erection of more modern and bland villas on the opposite side of the road.

But in its first reaction to the application the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has already alerted the applicant that the two villas known as Villa Delimara and Villa Xemx are of “cultural heritage and architectural interest”.

The heritage watchdog has asked the project’s architect to submit a more adequate photographic survey of the existing villas to be in a better position to comment further on the application.

The SCH has also warned the applicant that ground disturbance in this area may uncover new cultural heritage features  that may necessitate amendments to the proposed drawings. This is because the villas are in proximity to the Tas-Silg Archaeological Site.

The Environment and Resources Authority has also called on the applicant to “as much as possible” integrate the existing trees within the design of the project.

The “outline” application presented by landowner Jean Vella seeks to establish the planning parameters for the site before a full application is submitted at a later stage.

As proposed, each of the 10 new villas will occupy a site area of between 350sq.m and 400sq.m with a built-up footprint of around 150sq.m to 160sq.m for each villa. This suggests a site coverage of around 50%.

The villas are fully located in the development zone.  The local plan designates this area of Tas-Silg for the development of semi-detached villas with a site  coverage of between 40% and 50% instead of a previous limit of 30%. This was justified by “the need to use land more efficiently”.