A two-storey building in one of Sliema’s oldest areas could soon extend to four floors, with the Planning Authority set to rule on the application this week.
The proposal seeks to add five housing units to a building on the corner of Triq San Pawl and Triq il-Kbira – one of the first roads to be built in Sliema and right across the road from popular local bar Hole in the Wall.
It also proposes adding a basement and altering parts of the building’s interior. According to the plans, the building’s façade will be retained, along with a historic niche on its corner.
First submitted in January 2021, the proposal was filed by Thomas Azzopardi, with Christian Spiteri as his architect.
Although a case officer has advised the PA that the proposal should be refused, objectors are concerned that the officer’s recommendation could be overruled during next week’s hearing.
Their primary concern stems from a decision by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to give its blessing to the proposal, after the developer agreed to reduce the building’s height to four floors.
While the SCH initially said that the plans were “excessive” and “visually incompatible with the existing property”, it dropped those objections following the developer’s decision to reduce the plans by one floor.
Although the applicant has reduced the building to a four-floor one, in reality its total height will only be 1.5 metres lower than the original proposal.
In its current proposed form, the four-storey corner building would tower over the two-storey buildings that rest directly next door to it, on either side. There are similarly tall buildings two doors away on both its Triq il-Kbira and Triq San Pawl sides.
Among the proposal’s most active objectors is NGO Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, which regularly flags controversial planning applications affecting heritage and quality of life.
SCH criticism
FAA coordinator Astrid Vella told Times of Malta that it was extremely concerned that one of Sliema’s last remaining traditional street corners is on the cusp of being gobbled by development, with its skyline ruined and Sliema’s heritage irrevocably damaged.
An elevation drawing submitted to the PA by the applicant shows the Triq il-Kbira streetscape.
An elevation presented by the project architect showing the streetscape on its Triq San Pawl side.
She said the PA and SCH have argued that raising the building to four floors would “close off” existing blank party walls. That is nonsensical, she argued to Times of Malta, as rather than removing blank walls, building a taller building would add another two blank walls to the area.
“This is the last remaining corner of Sliema that dates back to the 1700s,” Vella said. “And yet the SCH told me that they consider that historical context irrelevant. I almost fell off my chair when they said that. If our cultural watchdog is not interested in the history of buildings, then we might as well bulldoze all old buildings in Malta.”
The FAA has made it clear that it is dismayed with the SCH, organising an event last week in which they flagged questionable decisions made by the cultural watchdog in recent years.
Vella reiterated that point on Saturday, telling Times of Malta that several former PA staff members have been moved to the watchdog – including the person in charge of the SCH decision in this particular case.
“People whose job was purely planning-related are now tasked with protecting our cultural heritage,” she said, “and the result is decisions based on planning, rather than heritage grounds.”