'Illegal development' of shop's façade

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has asked the police to institute proceedings against the owners of a shop in Republic Street, Valletta, over alleged illegal development of the shop's scheduled façade.

Such an infringement carries a maximum fine of Lm50,000.

The shop formerly belonged to the firm Captain A. Caruana Ltd and is now a Eurosport outlet.

Mepa said the façade of the sports shop was altered through the removal of the shop front. This, it said, was against the law as the shop was scheduled and a development permit application was necessary for this change to be done.

An enforcement notice had been issued against the development. Mepa said this was ignored by the owners and not only was the site not re-instated but a further infringement was carried out when a canopy was installed to the façade.

Situated in Valletta, the shop is in an urban conservation area. This means that whatever development takes place, a full development application needs to be submitted.

The shop front had been scheduled for the unique manner in which the windows had been made, particularly because the single glass panes on either side of the entrance were moulded to curve along the entrance.

This was done in 1995 when, in a holistic exercise, Mepa had scheduled a number of shop fronts in Valletta as rare examples of wooden shop fronts dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, a spate of refurbishment was threatening the extinction of the shop fronts, the planning and environment watchdog said.

Mepa said that in the exercise, 48 wooden shop fronts and three wooden kiosks in Valletta were scheduled as Grade 2.

Removing the shop front was not only an infringement of the law but also ruined a salient feature of what made the shop fronts of Republic Street so distinctive, Mepa said.