The Planning Authority is expected to give its green light to the conversion of a historic 19th century palazzo into a guesthouse and the construction of a residential complex in vacant plots surrounding the site in a quaint Naxxar street.

Originally recommended for refusal, application PA3690/19 seeks to convert the dilapidated dwelling into a guest house. The hearing for this application will be held tomorrow.

It is also seeking a permit to use three vacant plots of land for the construction of 16 basement garages and six commercial car parking spaces, three groundfloor maisonettes and nine apartments over three floors plus two overlying penthouses at the fourth receded floor.  The project in Triq Santa Luċija and Triq Ħal Dgħejf also got the green light from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the PA’s Design Advisory Committee.

The applicant, Matthew Gauci, is proposing the removal of additions made to the original Casa Chetcuti and replacing them with additional rooms for guests plus ancillary facilities.

He is proposing that the footprint of the basement garages extends beneath the garden of the existing dwelling to cater for required parking spaces of the proposed guesthouse and provide back-of-house service access.

The garden will be reinstated but will include a pool and a deck area.

Objections to the plans came from, among others, the Naxxar Local Council, Flimkien għal-Ambjent Aħjar, Din l-Art Ħelwa and residents living nearby. They argued that the proposed development will increase traffic congestion as well as noise and light pollution and that such a development are not acceptable in an Urban Conservation Area.

Objectors said they could not understand the position of the Superintendence which on one hand described the garden as “historic” but at the same time did not object to the proposed development and construction of garages underneath the garden which would eliminate most of the soil and transform it into a deck area.

The Planning Directorate recommended the application’s refusal be-cause it ran counter to a design guideline. However, at discussion stage, the applicant submitted fresh drawings to address this issue.

The recommendation to refuse is still there but the majority of members on the board expressed their intention, at the last meeting, to overturn the recommendation.