Swieqi residents said on Monday that they are ready to "fight tooth and nail” to block an application for the demolition of a terraced house that forms part of a row of similar houses, for its replacement with an apartment block.
Swieqi local council, together with 15 residents of Triq il-Ħemel, have filed formal objections to the proposed project. They are claiming that replacing the two-storey house with apartments would not respect the streetscape, exceed the height limitation for the zone, and result in blank party walls on either side of the block.
They are also arguing that the project would be in breach of an agreement made with the Archbishop’s Curia.
The planning application (PA/1580/24) is for the demolition of a terraced house and the construction of semi-basement garages and five residential units (four apartments and a penthouse).
In their objections, the residents noted that the terraced house in question was built on a plot of land known as Art Tal-Kbira originally granted by the Archbishop’s Curia to engaged couples to construct terraced houses. This was a contractual obligation which remained when Church properties were transferred to the Joint Office, they argued.
One resident noted that Swieqi residents already have to contend with the “fallout of the glut of apartments” in the locality.
“Such apartments invariably find their way into the rental market and they are rattling the social fabric of what is essentially a residential priority area. All-night alcohol and substance-fuelled parties on the balconies of apartments and outside in the street on any day of the week – winter and summer - have become the norm. Moreover, reports to the overstretched police force are futile as there appears to be no serious effort directed at law enforcement,” one resident said, adding that residents were concerned that further development would further threaten their peace and tranquillity.
In its objection the local council said that if approved, the apartment block would result in “an incongruous block intruding into what is now a terrace of two-storey houses”.
“Swieqi has been inundated with blocks of mediocre flats which do absolutely nothing to enrich the urban environment, and which have each potentially increased the population by a factor of five, with no regard to the carrying capacity of our streets, parking areas, public services particularly sewerage and availability of green public open spaces. And certainly with no regard to the quality of life of Swieqi residents who have lived in these streets for all their lives,” the council said.
Noting that there were other apartment blocks down the road and across the street, the local council said that, in deciding on the application, the Planning Authority should not be hoodwinked by any arguments containing the infamous term "precedent".
The council referred to a landmark court decision in which, last year, the Court of Appeal overturned a decision to allow a terraced house, in a row of 20 terraced houses in Triq il-Ġibjun Santa Luċija, to be demolished and turned into four apartments and a penthouse.
The court ruled that just because the local plan’s height limitation permitted buildings of the height applied for, it did not mean that the permit ought to be granted. Any new building had to respect the context of the buildings it was located in.