A controversial planning authority decision allowing a modern four-storey apartment block to be built in an old area of Xemxija sets a dangerous precedent and risks “causing havoc in the sphere of planning law”, according to a lawyer representing residents.

The Mepa appeals tribunal yesterday overturned a previous decision to block a 2009 application which would demolish existing apartments in Triq is-Simar on the Xemxija waterfront to construct a new four-storey block.

The area is characterised by two-storey detached villas built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which were designed in a terraced fashion that follows the natural topography as it slopes down towards the coast.

In this case, a relatively intact modernist urban development is being silently obliterated

In its original decision to block the development, Mepa had made reference to policies BEN 1 and BEN 2, which prohibit developments which are “incompatible with the good urban design, natural heritage and environmental characteristics of an area”.

The board argued that the proposed building would constitute an over-development given the character and existing context of the area.

In an appeal, however, the developers argued that the two policies should not be applicable as the area had been zoned by the Local Plan for four-storey development – an argument that was upheld by the appeals tribunal yesterday, which gave the green light for the development.

Lawyer Rodolfo Ragonesi, representing Xemxija residents, told the Times of Malta: “The judgment has in one fell swoop struck off policies BEN 1 and BEN 2 from the law books, determining erroneously that they cannot be applicable wherever there is a local plan in place.” He said the decision set a dangerous legal precedent that, if unchallenged, would have far-reaching consequences and “create a miscarriage of justice of the highest order” for residents all over Malta.

“It would create a developer’s paradise where the height limitations at law would become instead the de facto standard height, and any development would be allowed regardless of all other significant aspects,” Dr Ragonesi said.

Residents who spoke to this newspaper said they were “devastated” by the decision, fearing that the fabric of the area would slowly be undermined.

Architect Svetlana Sammut, herself a resident, said the decision would pave the way for the “inanimate” character that had already taken over most of Xemxija to be extended to one of the last untouched areas of the town.

“In this case, a relatively intact modernist urban development is being silently obliterated,” Ms Sammut said.

“The apartment type of development, attested by the north-east portion of Xemxija, precludes any sense of interesting architectural form, character of spaces or urban quality that the Maltese built environment should be directed to achieve.”