Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1523932
12 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JULY 2024 'They want to eradicate my roots' – Qrendi Award-winning poet Antoine Cassar lives next door to a pre-1911 farmhouse slated for development into a five-storey block. 900 residents are objecting to the development, but Qrendi mayor David Schembri believes there must be stronger grounds to oppose demolition of the farmhouse. Cassar tells JAMES DEBONO the building harbours his family's roots ANTOINE Cassar, an outspo- ken poet living next door to one of Qrendi's oldest farmhouses, is ruing plans that will replace the building with a five-storey block. "They will be eradicating the roots of my family; five genera- tions of them... if they approve this," he says of his fear that his childhood memories will be wiped off by a developer's whims and the Planning Au- thority's say-so. Known for his civic activism on both migration and envi- ronmental issues, Cassar was awarded the National Book Prize in 2018 for Erbgħin Jum (Forty Days) and was later short-listed for the Europe- an Poet of Freedom award. In Passaport, Cassar pens a pro- test poem denouncing the ab- surdity and cruelty of borders. And in his booklet Nannu and Nanna, dedicated to the mem- ory of his grandparents Wiġi and Pawla, the cover shows his 82-year-old grandfather with his cousin, right next to the fa- bled Qrendi farmhouse while his uncle can be seen picking onions. Cassar's family used to live in the farmhouse as tenants until a few years ago, when it was taken back by its owners. Now he fears the effects of the proposed excavations of three basement levels right next to his present family's home. But to the poet, this is not simply a case of nimbyism. "The protection of the environ- ment is central to my literary activism," he says of the farm- house, which at just 80 metres from the parish church, is an integral part of the entire vil- lage's collective memory. Speaking next to the farm- house, Cassar says he is flood- ed by sensory memories which evoke the sounds and smells of his childhood, underlining the importance of protecting old buildings as depositories of his- torical memory. Now he hopes the authorities will schedule the building, as was the case with another farmhouse a short distance away, to ensure this historical memory is not erad- icated. "I was going to explode in anger when I was informed of the permit application… I was flabbergasted at the application for the demolition of an alleged 'damaged building' instead of calling it a farmhouse. That's manipulative." Cassar feels development cannot be excluded due to the building being within the de- velopment zone. "If they build a two-storey development while keeping the farmhouse intact, I would consider that a good compromise… but sure- ly not a five-storey develop- ment." Cassar welcomed the objec- tion presented by the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage which not only wants the farm- house protected for its "signif- icant cultural heritage value" but called for any development around it to be "sensible" and respectful of the Urban Con- servation Area. 900 objections presented Nearly 900 objections have been presented against the demolition of the old 19th cen- tury farmhouse. These included Din l-Art Ħelwa, which is arguing that the proposal is in breach of a specific policy included in De- velopment Control Policy P6 which refers to development carried out in the immediate vicinity of the UCA. The policy states that any de- velopment approved in these areas should "not be higher than the height of the predom- inant buildings located with- in the stretch of the perime- ter bloc" which in this case is equivalent to two floors. Several residents also ex- pressed concern on increased traffic problems opposite the locality's primary school, near the development; while most objectors, many of which from Qrendi, expressed their out- rage at the loss of their local- ity's identity arguing that the project is "disproportionate to our village's landscape." Qrendi mayor asks questions, but does not object The Qrendi local council has not objected to the demolition of the farmhouse, but its may- or David Schembri has sent a representation consisting of five questions addressed to the Planning Authority. In his representation sent on 10 June, the mayor asked whether a Storm Water Man- agement plan had been pre- sented; whether an impact assessment and a traffic man- agement plan are being re- quested; whether a waste man- agement collection scheme is being considered; and finally whether the developers will be making a financial contri- bution to the Qrendi council as part of the Urban Improve- ment Fund. Contacted by MaltaToday and asked why he was not ob- jecting to the demolition of the farmhouse, Schembri insisted that he disagrees with five-sto- rey developments in localities like Qrendi, noting that this is not the only case of such de- velopments in the village. Schembri also insisted that one should have solid grounds to object with, and from what he has seen the development is line with existing policies. "Surely, I would be pleased if the development is not ap- proved as it would cause me a