The Planning Commission has rejected an application to build houses, garages and swimming pools on the site of a 400-year-old garden at the crossroads between Lija, Attard and Balzan.
It was the umpteenth time that the developer applied to obliterate the large garden and demolish the adjacent baroque residence at the corner of Triq Annibale Preca, in Lija and Triq Sant’Antnin, in Balzan.
The original proposal would have seen the excavation of the 17th-century garden measuring about 920 square metres, including protected citrus trees and garden rubble walls, to create eight basement garages and six two-storey townhouses with swimming pools.
All of the proposed dwellings were four-bedroom units, having a gross floor area exceeding 200 square metres.
That project got the thumbs down from the Planning Authority in January but the developer submitted fresh plans and reduced the number of proposed two-storey townhouses to three, complete with swimming pools and underlying garages.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had vehemently opposed the project, saying that the site was an established garden forming part of a property “of evident architectural and historical value”.
Moreover, it said the property was located within an urban conservation area and was in the vicinity of San Anton Palace, which was a scheduled property.
“The Superintendence notes that the proposed development is an unacceptable intensification of development and will create an undeniable and negative impact both on the property and on the streetscapes in two streets within the urban conservation area.
“Any modern alteration or new construction to the existing corner façade would certainly destroy the existing character of the village core,” it said.
It also noted the garden itself had specific and significant features, including a World War II air-raid shelter, with a concrete hood over its access and a cylindrical concrete shed, which could be associated with a spiral staircase leading to a shelter.
The Lija local council had also objected to the destruction of the old garden at the crossroads of the Three Villages.
The council’s was one of nearly 200 objections submitted to the PA, many citing the loss of the historic garden, the increase in traffic and the intensification of development in an urban conservation area, which objectors say will also set a precedent.
The application, which the Planning Directorate had recommended for refusal, was unanimously rejected when the matter was yesterday discussed by the Planning Authority’s Planning Commission, chaired by Elizabeth Ellul.