A vote by the Planning Authority approving the demolition of Walmarville, an iconic modernist house in Balzan, was made in an irregular manner and could leave the decision open to appeal, Times of Malta has learnt.
The Planning Commission board, with Anthony Camilleri stepping in as chairman in the absence of its actual chairman, Claude Mallia, and attended by member Stephanie Baldacchino, voted in favour of an application to demolish the house to make way for a maisonette and three apartments, including a pool at penthouse level, with a garage and four car spaces at basement level.
Sometimes referred to as the Diamond House, Walmarville has an iconic pink façade that features signature green, diamond-shaped glass panels incorporated in the galvanised steel gates and railings that face Old Railway Street.
The building is a favourite among photographers and has even been immortalised in a graphic print by local design house Te fit-Tazza.
As the commission meeting was attended by only two members – Camilleri and Baldacchino – while Mallia was not present, the fact that it was held in the absence of the chairman puts it in breach of Article 65 of the Development Planning Act, lawyer Claire Bonello told Times of Malta.
“The commission or, in case of there being a number of divisions, each division of the commission, shall be appointed by the minister and shall consist of three permanent members including its chairperson and one supplementary member. The commission shall be chosen from persons of known integrity and who shall have knowledge of, and experience in, matters relating to sustainable deve-lopment,” the law states.
“Provided that the three persons who are appointed to act as permanent members of the commission or a division of the commission, as the case may be, shall attend the meetings of the commission and take part in the deliberations and decisions, while the supplementary member may attend meetings, but shall only take part in the deliberations and decisions in substitution of any permanent member who cannot for any reasonable cause properly fulfil his duties.”
Bonello said that the absence of the chairman in the deliberation and subsequent decision is a grave irregularity that is ground for voiding the decision.
“In light of the fact that the law specifies that the chairman is a permanent member and that the law further stipulates that it is obligatory for the permanent members to attend the meetings of the commission and to take part in the deliberations and decisions, the fact that the chairman was absent during this meeting and did not participate in the deliberations and decision means that there is a grave procedural irregularity and breach of the law which renders the decision null and void,” she said.
Activists and NGOs, including Din l-Art Ħelwa and the Archeological Society, made impassioned pleas during the hearing against the demolition of the house on the merit of its architectural value and the character of the streetscape, which is lined with similar terraced houses.
These calls were echoed by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, who requested that, at the very least, the façade of the house be retained. However, this was turned down by the commission.