
Tuesday, 19th August 2008
Sliema townhouses on death row
On August 27, the Mepa DCC board will meet to decide the fate of two adjoining beautiful Sliema townhouses, numbers 9 and 10, Dingli Street. (PA 2114/07, PA 03265/07).
These are two of the few remaining grand Sliema town houses, still in a preserved streetscape of similar houses in Sliema's widest road. They are close to the area known as "the three trees" close to the heart of Sliema. One of the houses has elaborate carvings and corbelling with an elaborate stone balcony at the site of number 63 bus stop where Dingli Street widens at the junction with Princess Poutiatine Street. It is also the house seen straight ahead when one walks from Victoria Junction onto Dingli Street.
The permit application is to develop flats and garages, retaining the façade. In practice this means that the ground floor façade will probably be mostly destroyed by installing a door to the garage, and the first floor retained but buried under several stories of a new building. Facadism is only a token towards conservation to allow development.
Mepa's own DPA board has recommended that permission is refused.
This application will be a litmus test for the new Mepa. Will Mepa continue to support rampant development or will it finally start to protect the heritage entrusted to its care?




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Comments
As far as I am concerned Malta has been distroyed by developers and government.
I do not plan to retire in Malta now. I will go to Spain.
Surely it would be better for people to be living in Traditional Houses than a whole street of empty "shells"
We intend to retire to your lovely Island but have no desire to live in concrete block!
Get your Act together MEPA and stop this vandalism!!
Is MEPA managed by people or by robots?
Changing Malta's character like this, is going to be worse than when divorce is introduced!!!
A corner block of 6 houses on Milner/Howard Streets were supposedly on the original UCA plans when an application was lodged for a permit to demolish them, retaining the facade. Such permit was refused, and even "retaining the facade" was not accepted by MEPA.
Suddenly the applicant lodges a new application for a permit, and hey presto! The houses are removed from the UCA, and the houses are now about to be demolished ... and without the facade even being retained.
See this:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080724/local/asds
Unfortunately, rotten apples just remain what they are ... rotten apples.