Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar on Thursday welcomed an Environment Planning Review Tribunal (appeals board) decision to uphold the refusal of an application to build 30 apartments in the garden of scheduled in Għaxaq's Palazzo Giannin.
Along with Villa Mekrech and Ġnien tal-Kmand, Palazzo Giannin is one of the three historical green enclaves in Għaxaq.
Palazzo Giannin is thought to have been a knights’ period hunting lodge, embellished by baroque architectural decorations and serving as a landmark.
Being over 250 years old, the garden contains ancient oaks, olive trees and Aleppo pines that reduce pollution in the area and are protected under the Trees and Woodlands Protection Regulations and cannot be felled.
Following pressure from Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Palazzo Giannin and Villa Mekrech along with their gardens were protected as Grade 2 scheduled sites in 2013.
All three gardens are marked as green enclaves and designated as 'Private Gardens Meriting Protection' safeguarded through the South Malta Local Plan.
Alterations to scheduled buildings will only be allowed “if proposed to be carried out sensitively and causing the least detriment to the character and architectural homogeneity of the property”.
Three five-storey stand-alone apartment blocks obliterating most of the garden can under no stretch of the imagination be deemed sensitive and appropriate to the character of a baroque garden, FAA said.
It added that the basement garage extending beyond the blocks’ footprint would have destroyed an undeclared ancient arched well and more trees.
The 30-car parking shortfall would have further exacerbated the existing parking problem while the reduction of the soil area to less than 20% of its original size would have created major problems in this flood-prone area.
FAA also welcomed the refusal at appeal of the proposed hotel at Saqqajja Hill and the withdrawal of the Planning Control application to build on a traffic island beneath Regional Road.
It said such victories served to encourage the public to continue to fight against over-development to save what remains of the country’s heritage and green spaces.