A proposed development application which sought to demolish an existing corner terraced house and replace it with a four-storey apartment block in Fgura has been thrown out by the planning commission.

While the site is outside an Urban Conservation Area and the proposed development conforms to the local plan policies, the commission said that the proposed building height will ruin the existing defined visual appearance and urban setting of the area in and around Pjazza Patri Redent Gauci.

The streetscapes around this terraced house property are all intact with other similar low-lying residential properties that contribute towards the area's distinctiveness and visual harmony, the PA said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the commission took a similar stand when it refused a development application in Triq Santa Margerita in Sliema.

It had ruled that the height and volume of the proposed apartment block will compromise the two/three storey streetscape while also creating a new blank party wall.