Mepa approves demolition

A lengthy and furious battle over the demolition of a Sliema house, which some claim to be baroque and others not, ended yesterday when the Development Control Commission within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority approved the application to construct apartments instead.

For months, the house in Ghar il-Lembi Street, corner with High Street, has been the subject of a heated debate and a ping-pong of articles and letters to the editor in The Times. However, despite the interest in its conservation on the part of residents, readers and NGOs, the two-storey house is destined to be razed to the ground to construct basement garages, a shop and overlying apartments, including a penthouse.

The application was approved by the DCC on the grounds that no information to overturn the outline permit was supplied, a Mepa spokesperson said.

The traditional building, as it is referred to, is situated within the periphery of the Sliema Urban Conservation Area - meaning more caution is exercised in these cases.

The outline application was submitted for the development of the site and a permit issued last June.

The Mepa spokesman said the Heritage Advisory Committee had not considered the building worth keeping and that no one had objected to an identical house next door undergoing the same fate.

Through consultation with the HAC, it had been indicated that there would be no objection to the proposal from a heritage point of view, provided that the external apertures were constructed in timber and any metal work in traditional wrought iron.

The spokesman said the HAC had no problem at the outline application stage, but that objections started flowing in when it was approved, including from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, which confirmed that the property was a house of character and that the building had a degree of antiquity that contributed to its cultural heritage significance.

Moreover, the Superintendence had recommended to Mepa that the building be scheduled at an appropriate level so as to guarantee its protection.

The spokesman said the superintendence had the power by law to protect the building, but had not used it.

To revoke the outline application, error in fact or fraud would have had to proved, which was not the case, the spokesman said.

However, there was hope yet for the objectors, who could opt for reconsideration and appeal in front of the Planning Appeals Board.

Astrid Vella, who has championed the conservation of what is left of the beautiful houses in Sliema, has fought tooth and nail against the demolition of the building she claimed was "Sliema's oldest, dating back to the baroque period".

She had researched it origins and was involved in the gripping exchange of articles regarding whether the house was baroque or dated back to the 19th century.

She told The Times that yesterday's result was "a scandalous disregard of recommendations not to demolish the house, given by Mepa's own HAC and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

"It violates all Mepa regulations on Urban Conservation Areas and scheduling and also the law of cultural heritage," she claimed.

Ms Vella was at loggerheads with the developer Edwin Camilleri, who had reached the point of filing a judicial protest against her.

"I am sorry for Malta," she said as she prepared to throw in the towel, highlighting all the evidence there was against the demolition of the building.

"I am for the principle. If we cannot even save what is protected by law, what hope do we have for anything else?"