Updated 4.50pm
The Planning Authority (PA) said on Monday it was issuing a stop and enforcement notice for works that started without a permit at the site of the former Barracuda Restaurant in St Julian’s.
In a statement, the PA said that it was also enforcing a daily penalty on the applicant. It provided no further detail.
St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg, who was the first person to flag the illegal works, said the PA order was "too little, too late" and that the damage had already been done.
Times of Malta reported earlier on Monday that wooden Maltese balconies on the building's facade had been removed, despite the project having no permit.
The balconies dated back to the mid-19th century and were an extremely rare feature, a heritage practitioner told Times of Malta.
A skip full of patterned Maltese tiles, removed from the grade 2 listed property, was also spotted outside the site over the weekend.
The development application (PA3863/21) covering the property in question is currently suspended at the request of the architect, Robert Musumeci.
The new owner of the building, developer Carlo Stivala, has applied for a change of use from Class 4A offices to Class 4D, the category for food and drink establishments.
In its statement, the PA noted that the property and several other properties in the area of Balluta have been listed as Grade 2 protected buildings since 1994.
“The Authority’s Compliance and Enforcement Directorate will monitor the site to ensure that no further works are carried out without planning permission,” the PA said in its statement.
Despite the PA notice, an eyewitness told Times of Malta that workers were still on-site at 4.20pm.
Workers were still onsite on Monday afternoon, as the PA issued an order for works to stop.'Too little, too late' - mayor
Reacting to the news about the PA’s stop and enforcement notice, Buttigieg said this came “too little too late since the irreversible damage has been done”.
He said this work “confirms the anarchy and arrogance of some developers who consider themselves above the law.”
“We request not only a penalty - he can afford it – but the reinstatement of all windows and Maltese balconies - the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage must monitor this. Moreover, a bank guarantee is to be requested to cover this reinstatement agreement – we, the people, have had enough of this arrogance,” he told Times of Malta.
A heritage expert who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the louvred balconies that had been removed were "very rare" in Malta and should be resinstated.
"The PA normally harps on about how these are as important as the stone and orders that they be restored in place, on-site and not removed," he said.
But they would now in all likelihood be replaced by a “cheap replica” of Maltese balconies, complete with comfortable, double-glazed windows, as had been the case in the neighbouring property, he said.