The Planning Authority (PA) has turned down an application to sanction a 'floating stage' on Valletta’s Strait Street and the developer behind it says it will now be removed.
In a victory for heritage campaigners, the PA said the development was “incompatible” with the design and characteristics of the area and “would set a precedent for other similar requests”.
The floating platform was given the green light as a temporary theatre to stage events related to Valletta 2018, when the city hosted the title of European Capital of Culture.
It was to be dismantled the following year but remained in place and, in June 2020, the developer behind the structure applied for sanctioning.
Alexiei Dingli, the former mayor of the capital city, had described it as an “eyesore” when it was first built while residents and heritage campaigners were alarmed at its impact on the narrow street.
Rejecting the application, the PA noted that the superintendence of cultural heritage had “strongly objected” to the application.
Andrei Imbroll, chairman of Valletta Boutique Living, the group behind the development of the structure, along with a restaurant and bar hub in the area, said he was disappointed by the news.
He said the structure contributed to the essence of the historic street.
“The stage ensured live music and entertainment – an integral part of the street’s history – were kept alive and the floating platform prevented the haphazard appearance of other umbrellas and structures, which made the street look disorderly,” he said.
“Many had commented on how the minute you step at the top of St Christopher Street, it’s one of the parts of Valletta that looks most organised and harmonious,” he said.
“If you look at the rest of Strait Street, everyone has different umbrellas, different structures and now that the stage is being removed there is nothing stopping this part of the street becoming exactly like that,” he explained.
Imbroll also pointed to similar structures in the area and remarked that the platform was the only one that served a community purpose, in that it provided a space for live music performances.
However, the decision is likely to be met with relief by residents and heritage campaigners, who were alarmed by the impact on a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Lawyer Claire Bonello, who campaigned against the sanctioning, last year warned that it would have continued the “unfortunate precedent” initiated by the Marks and Spencers bridge. That bridge was originally designed and approved for retraction every night but became a permanent fixture.