Pietà's Grade 1 protected church to get five-floor block across the road

A five-storey apartment block is set to rise across the road from the Pietà parish church, after planners approved a proposal to replace three mid-century houses with a 13-unit construction.

The application (PA 04190/23) on Triq Santa Monika was approved by the Planning Commission on Wednesday.

The site sits just metres away from the Grade 1 protected Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima and Grade 3 protected Villa Gauci. Grade 1 is the Planning Authority's highest form of planning protection. 

Although Triq Santa Monika has 10 separate buildings that have some degree of planning protection and the parish church is a hub of community life, most of the street is not included in Pietà's Urban Conservation Area (UCA). 

A computer-generated render of the proposed new development, submitted as part of the application.

Plans to develop the site were first filed in December 2022 by Gilbert Bugeja, a director of Bilom Construction. The developer initially wanted to demolish the existing buildings entirely and replace them with a seven-storey apartment block.

Following objections from the Pietà local council, several residents and heritage groups including Din L-Art Ħelwa and Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, the proposal was downscaled to a five-storey one.

The original seven-floor proposal (left) was reduced and adjusted (right) following objections.

Recommended for approval

Once built, the site will host 13 units - one maisonette, 10 apartments and two penthouses - and underground parking for 10 cars.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage recommended that the proposal be reduced in height, but stopped short of objecting to it. It requested that extensions be built with limestone facades and existing opramortas removed and reinstated at the second floor level.

A PA case officer recommended the proposal for approval, noting it was within maximum permissible heights for the area and concluding that it "will not negatively affect the long-distance views".

Planners asked the developer’s architect, Pierre Farrugia, to present a volumetric study of proposed and committed developments along the street. 

The resulting study highlighted three other multi-storey developments along Triq Santa Monika, which is predominantly made up of two-storey homes and bungalows.

A volumetric study presented by the developer. The development in question is in red.

A pending UCA request

As the planning application gathered steam, Pietà's local council sought to stymie it by having the town's Urban Conservation Area extended to include the street. 

UCAs are subject to stricter building regulations than standard residential zones. 

Malta Today reported in March that the PA's executive chairman, Johann Buttigieg, had instructed the authority’s Planning Directorate to analyse the council's request and had expressed "satisfaction" about it. 

A computer-generated render of the proposed new development, submitted as part of the application.

The Planning Directorate has yet to conclude that analysis, but in the meantime another branch of the PA - its Planning Commission - moved the Triq Santa Monika planning application forward.

On Wednesday afternoon the Commission, chaired by Stephanie Baldacchino, unanimously approved the proposal.

The PA's approval is subject to appeal. 

Pieta' mayor disappointed

Pietà Mayor Stefano Savo expressed disappointment at the PA's decision, given that planners are still assessing their request to have the area included in the town's UCA.  

“It makes no sense to have such projects approved while our application to expand the UCA is ongoing, because once these projects are approved, every building in the area will be threatened,” he said.

The Labour mayor said Pieta, unlike many other towns, has no real town square. The area impacted by this development is the closest to one, he said, with many key events, including its feast, held on the church parvis (zuntier). 

Echoes of Żabbar

It is the second PA-related battle that Triq St Monica residents have fought in recent years. In 2019, a developer sought to demolish two modernist villas on the street, Villa Gauci and The Orange Grove, to replace them with a massive 114-apartment block. 

The proposal was eventually withdrawn in the face of strident opposition. 

The Pieta’ development approved on Wednesday, also echoes another, similar proposal approved in Żabbar just weeks ago.

In that case, the PA approved plans to develop a five-floor care home across the road from the town’s main church, to the dismay of the town’s council and heritage activists.

Żabbar's local council has said it will hold a protest outside that site this Monday. 

The PA pushed back at criticism of its Żabbar decision by noting that the development and its height were in line with policies and the area’s local plan, which is established by parliament, not planners.

Activists note that a court of appeal had ruled in 2023 that height limits established in local plans were maximum heights that could not be exceeded, not heights developers were automatically entitled to.

Proposed new planning laws unveiled in the summer would, if approved, give the PA the explicit ability to deviate from policies and local plans where it sees fit.

Proponents of those changes argue this would allow planners to reject applications that tick all the policy boxes but are nevertheless undesirable. Critics, on the other hand, fear the PA will use those new powers to do the opposite: approve developments that violate existing policies and zoning restrictions. 

The proposed changes are currently on hold, with the government pledging to redraft them following widespread protest.