The Planning Authority has postponed a final decision on an application to extend the topmost level of an office block in Valletta to turn it into a boardroom after the majority of board members said they will be going against the recommendation by the Planning Directorate to refuse. 

At least seven board members said that apart from the fact that Valletta’s skyline will not be affected with the proposed extension, the rooftops of the city's buildings had already been compromised by other sporadic buildings. 

The application seeks to extend a permitted receded floor. The site in question is an 18th century house at 162/163 Old Bakery Street, at the corner with Old Theatre Street. The applicant is Pawlu Lia, lawyer of former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

The Planning Directorate recommended its refusal because it went against specific policy that such extensions need to be abutting structures on one or both sides.

The discussion at board level on Thursday revolved around the interpretation that had to be given to this policy since the property in question is a corner site. 

The board heard how the site already has a permit for two additional floors plus the overlying set-back floor. The application had originally been turned down but the decision was somehow overturned in December 2018.

The main objector to the proposed 38-square-metre extension is the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage which has insisted that the room has to be receded even further. Despite fresh plans submitted as part of the planning process, the superintendence said the proposed structure is not set back as much as expected so it cannot be considered favourably.

However, architect Ian Cutajar, on behalf of the applicant, said the boardroom had been receded more than had been requested, that the extension is not visible at all from street level and that the applicant is seeking a permit now so that the structure can be built at the same time that the other two floors are being built. 

He said the policy is clear that the building only has to abut one adjacent committed building and this was the topmost level of the hotel next door to the building on Old Theatre Street. 

The proposed project, dubbed the 'Valletta towers', had drawn objections from NGOs Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and Din l-Art Ħelwa. FAA coordinator Astrid Vella said the project was going to ruin Valletta’s protected skyline and its character.

But Professor Victor Axiaq, sitting on the board as chairman of the Environment and Resources Authority, said that Valletta’s skyline had already been compromised by other buildings and that this extension, which is hardly visible, is not going to impact this skyline in any manner. 

Since the majority showed their intention to overturn the recommendation, the vote was deferred.