A row of 10 scheduled townhouses in Paceville are under threat as an outline application seeks to raise the building height limitation on the properties, ostensibly to make way for future development.
Among the last preserved residences in the now commercially overrun area, the 10 houses were built in the interwar period (between 1918 and 1938) and run from Triq Wilġa and Triq Paceville in St Julian’s. They were given formal protection through Grade 2 scheduling in 1995.
However, a new application, PA/06838/21, filed by Priscilla Calleja and architect Colin Zammit, seeks to raise the building height of the scheduled houses to match the blank third-party walls created by adjacent developments.
In 2017, Calleja and Zammit had filed another application on one of the properties in Triq Wilġa, PA/00733/17, which sought to demolish the house while retaining the façade and build a Class 3A guest house.
That application was recommended for refusal by the Planning Authority’s case officer as it would have created disharmony between the new development and the remaining scheduled houses. A decision on that case has, at the time of writing, remained suspended for it to be reassessed by the Planning Directorate.
According to the minutes of a planning board meeting held on January 11, 2018, Zammit argued that if the board allowed additional floors on this property, setting the parameters for development, the adjacent properties would follow suit and apply for a permit.
The minutes indicate board members were concerned that development in this stretch should be “planned comprehensively so as to achieve
uniformity” in the building envelope and design.
It was then suggested that an outline application be submitted on the whole stretch of scheduled properties, determining the building height and external appearance.
The minutes also say that “Mr Buttigieg” noted that the outline application will cover an area well beyond the applicant’s property and will act as a “master plan” for the area, for which the authority would consider waiving the fees for this application.
Malta Tourism Authority chair Johann Buttigieg served as PA chairman at the time.
“An outline application cannot serve as a ‘master plan’. The two are completely unrelated,” architect Tara Cassar told Times of Malta.
“A master plan would include a detailed proposal for a given area after assessing its impact. An outline application is, on the other hand, a simplified permitting process lacking details and used to ‘commit’ a site to a form of development often without first assessing the full impact of what is being considered.”
“It is completely unacceptable to use this mechanism to hastily increase the building height of an intact row of scheduled townhouses.”
Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa has also objected to the application as it believes the proposal does not reflect the buildings’ heritage value.
“Rather than working to enhance this value, developers are increasingly seeking to undermine the protection status of these heritage buildings through proposals that aim to increase floor area at the cost of all else,” it said in a statement.
“Din l-Art Ħelwa strongly objects to this application and maintains that Grade 2 scheduled buildings must be protected as intended through their inclusion as listed buildings.”
“These heritage assets cannot be allowed to be compromised through insensitive and outdated proposals that set a dangerous precedent, threatening the integrity and protection of all scheduled properties.”