Infrastructure, Commercial Complexes, Cemetery: Satellite Data Reveals Malta’s Largest Green-to-Grey Areas

A joint analysis by Amphora Media and Arena for Journalism in Europe, supported by the Malta Environment Foundation, reveals that the largest developments turning Malta’s green spaces into grey include a government-supported industrial complex, a concert venue, a cemetery, villas and apartment blocks.

Among the 20 largest pieces of land to be developed, the government is responsible for developing at least 112,466 m2 of land, roughly 13% of the total developed from 2018 onwards.

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This analysis did not examine the circumstances of planning application approvals and focuses only on land-use change. There is no implication of wrongdoing.

These developments chip away at cropland and natural areas, making Malta one of the top countries in Europe for land loss to development.

Amphora Media has examined some of the largest land take-up projects. The research was based on analysis of satellite imagery [link to methodology]. 

No. 1 – Ħal-Far Industrial Estate – 32,948 m2

The plot is located within the Ħal Far Industrial Estate, managed by INDIS Malta, and has served as an industrial zone for decades. Back in 2018, this particular piece was an undeveloped field, and the converted area makes it the largest land take-up during the analysed period.

In 2022, Minister Silvio Schembri announced the relocation of Elepac Ltd’s factory to Hal Far. In 2024, the company applied to convert part of its factory to a waste management operation. According to reports, the land footprint was smaller than at the factory’s previous location. 

No. 2 – Concert Grounds in Ta’ Qali –  24,131 m2

Concert Grounds in Ta’ Qali was the second-largest expansion of built-up area, although satellite images show paths and structures in the area as of 2018. A permit to build concert facilities was granted in 2021 and included landscaping.

The Parks in Malta website describes the area used for concerts in Ta’ Qali as “previously derelict” and since transformed into “soft and hard landscaped spaces”. For prominent concerts, the location is indicated as Ta’ Qali National Park.

Instead, as reported in the media, the government has controversially paved gravel over a large picnic area within the adjacent national park, raising concerns about its impact on the soil, the material’s suitability, and its cost.

No. 3 – Addolorata Cemetery – 23,848 m2

The expansion of the government-owned Addolorata cemetery was the third-largest land take-up identified in the data. In 2019, Chris Fearne, then Minister of Health, announced the cemetery extension, adding 2,880 new graves.

No. 4 – Mqabba Quarry – 20,692 m2

The Mqabba quarry is the fourth-largest development. The plot, identified on Google Maps as Sier and Sons, is licensed for handling inert and excavation waste, among other activities. 

Quarries are included in the data as they are disturbed land that no longer supports ecosystems, and quarrying, alongside mining, is mentioned as development in the Development Planning Act.

No 5: Central Link Project 19,136.1 m² (combined two sites 6,586.46 m² + 12,549.64 m²)

Road expansion in Attard for the Central Link project, across two areas, was one of the largest intakes. 

Environmental groups had challenged the project in court and lost. Meanwhile, Infrastructure Malta insisted that the project would “halve travel times” and bring “better quality of life for thousands of residents”.

No. 6 – Shoreline Mall – 19,067 m2

The Shoreline Mall has occupied what used to be coastal land. Complete with trampolines and wall climbing, and home to a Starbucks and numerous global clothing brands, the mall is ultimately owned by five businessmen.

No. 7 – Quarry in Dingli 18,116 m2

Satellite image shows how fields were replaced with a busy developed site with stripped topsoil. 

No. 8 –  Estate – 17,612 m2

The estate, home to General Maintenance Ltd, an engineering company, and MaritimeMt, a training academy for maritime professionals, was once a field.

No. 9 – Malta Rescue Corps Plot –  16,425 m2

The Gozo plot hosting Malta Rescue Corps, an emergency response organisation, used to be covered with fields.

No. 10 – Quarry 15,147 m2

Land covered in fields has seen apparent quarry expansion. ERA lists six quarries in the area.

No. 11 – AX Centre in Mosta –  14,719 m2

A field surrounded by development has become the AX Business Centre in Mosta. AX Group calls this development “sustainable” and “eco-conscious”.

No 12: Antoine Camilleri block in Naxxar – 14,552 m2

A large area of rural land in Naxxar is being turned into a 6-floor development with underlying garages. Developed by Antoine Camilleri with Onyx.

The development entered the news earlier this year after the threat of a major collapse saw residents evacuated.

No. 13: Qala ODZ-Pools – 13,751 m2

The Hal Wardija resort apartments complex in Qala has replaced fields that broke up a heavily developed landscape in Gozo. The area is marketed to tourists as “quiet”.

This development consisted of separate applications to build garages and apartments. Pools were built illegally and then sanctioned, but a court later revoked that decision. Excel Investments Ltd filed the applications; it is co-owned by Daniel Refalo, Joseph Portelli, and Mark and Joseph Agius, and the fines for the illegal pools remain pending. A new application to sanction two pools is pending. 

ERA had objected to this development, given its ODZ encroachment, and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage noted with “grave concern” that the development was irreversibly changing the rural area.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, the developers’ spokesperson said that “the land in question was already scheduled for development. The choice was therefore not between development and leaving the site in its natural state, but between one comprehensive, coordinated development and the possibility of approximately 40 individual plots being developed separately by different owners over time. We are very proud of the resulting

development.”

The spokesperson added that “the relevant fines are being contested and we are currently pursuing the applicable sanctioning process” and that the developers “do not accept the characterisation that [the pools] were simply “illegally developed”, particularly while […] comparable pool developments on ODZ land have been permitted or sanctioned elsewhere in Malta and Gozo.”

No 14:  Airport runway expansion – 12,403.86 m²

This rounds up the largest land use changes on government sites (Central Link, the cemetery, the industrial estate expansion, and the concert grounds).

No 15: Villas and Apartments in Attard: 12,069.56 m²

A large green area in Attard, located behind the American Embassy in Ta’ Qali.

The site was developed across multiple applications and includes villas, terraced houses, and apartment blocks.

No 16. Vista Xlokk, Marsaxlokk: 11,783.35 m²

A housing development in Marsaxlokk called Vista Xlokk ate up several fields. Malta Tourism Authority’s listings show that at least one of the development’s apartments is used as a short-let.

No. 17: The Crest, Sannat: 10,792.49 m²

This development included residential units and pools. Realtors market apartments in the development to those who enjoy “natural surroundings” and “country views”.