The Lija local council has formally filed an appeal with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority against an approved development which, it is feared, will overshadow the town's iconic Belveder tower next door to it.
The development consists of a block of eight flats and a penthouse on four floors that will replace an existing villa and its garden about 20 metres to the right of the Belveder.
The project had first been given the green light last August but the council could not file an appeal then as the applicant was asked to modify the original plans before the permit could be issued. The plans appear to have been filed and the permit was posted on March 4. Since then the council collected a petition from about 140 residents against the project and is now formally appealing from the decision.
Besides the effect that the development could have on the landmark tower, the residents are worried about the fact that the precedent will kick the door open for further four-storey development in the area, which was so far reserved for two-storey properties. The local plan for the area, approved last year, curiously excludes from the village core the road leading from the Belveder to the church and specifically highlights this area for three-storeys plus penthouse.
A report prepared for the council by architect Jo Delia and which was filed along with the appeal, describes the alteration to the plans as 'flawed'. "It is my considered opinion," the architect says, "that the board chose to ignore overriding considerations in this specific application and implement the general conditions allowed by the 'flawed' Local Plan, complete with the concession of the penthouse which unnecessarily adds a floor to the three floors allowable."
Built in 1857, the tower was a feature in a large garden planted with citrus forming part of the former Villa Gourgion. When the villa was demolished, the authorities gave the green light to retain the tower in its original position when the avenue was opened in 1956 and has since remained.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the local plan, the architect continues, the Structure Plan - which is the fundamental planning legislation - specifically guides the authority not to allow developments that conflict with good urban design and is "unlikely to maintain the good visual integrity of the area".
Mepa's own Culture Heritage Advisory Committee (CHAC) had been critical of the application on the grounds that the development would "seriously jeopardise" the tower's context. Nonetheless the development was approved unanimously.
The Mepa board at first seemed surprised when the case was first brought before it and some members were asking questions and even referred the matter to a higher board, Lija mayor Ian Castaldi Paris had told The Times last August, adding that when the case returned before the board a second time it was approved straightaway.
"We weren't even given an opportunity to speak, a vote was taken and we were out in no time. We expected a serious explanation at the very least," he said.
Contacted yesterday he said the council also intends asking the authority's audit officer to investigate the changes to the local plan that were used to justify the development and also write to the Prime Minister, who is now responsible for Mepa.
He said the development was unacceptable to the residents who were angry at the likely prospect of the whole avenue being ruined following this development. "The cherry on the cake was that the permit was posted just before the election," he added, insisting that the council will be fighting the development tooth and nail.