Architectural value of Sliema house

The owners of 10, Dingli Street, Sliema comment (The Lipstick On The Pig Shall Be Fully Retained (November 10) on "third parties who do not have the intimate knowledge enjoyed by the owner of this property" that "the interior of the house is not faithful to the same valuable artistic style" (Art Nouveau) and "There is nothing one would want to conserve in the remainder of this house".

Since our environment group, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) has commented about this house publicly, I am obliged to explain that the opinions we expressed were based on the following report made by not one, but two, of Mepa's heritage bodies, that is, its Integrated Heritage Management Team, and the independent experts of the Heritage Advisory Committee:

"During the site inspection, it was revealed that the high architectural merits are not only limited to the façade, or to the rooms and corridors abutting the façade, but to the whole building. The building still retains all its original features way down to the original internal and external doors and windows and associated ironmongery. The layout is also very typical of the period with the masonry staircase and wrought iron handrail dominating the central area of the building. These two houses are both very fine examples of Art Nouveau architecture."

The Integrated Management Team concluded that both houses should be "retained, preserved and restored", meriting at least Grade 2 protection and no. 10 certainly Grade 2+.

Therefore the objections against the application to gut the house were not "wholly unfounded" as has been claimed. Grade 1 scheduling is normally retained for national monuments, so it was the official heritage boards who attributed a standard almost equivalent to a national monument, and not any over-zealous objector.

The writers also need to know that Local Plan height limitations are set to reflect the predominant height of each block, not an entire street.

This block contains nine houses, only two of which rise above three floors. That is why it is very hard to understand why the block height limitations were raised from two storeys in the old Local Plan to five storeys in the 2006 Sliema Local Plan.

It is even stranger how the building categories previously listed the block as being of "Specific Conservation Importance" and yet in the 2006 Local Plan, the houses next to this one are listed as Category B+ and yet at no. 10, the finest house, the categorisation suspiciously drops by two grades to Category C.

The proposed six-storey building protruding from nos. 9 and 10 would completely destroy not only the harmonious proportions of the individual houses, but the whole streetscape.

Like many others, the owners of 10 Dingli Street have given the impression that demolition is the only option, ignoring the fact that intact townhouses are in such great demand that they are often snapped up before they are advertised.

The owners' reference to "all the essential freedoms which normally go with property ownership" is not completely correct. Mepa, which regulates in the interest of the community, imposes extensive strictures on property owners, from height limitations right down to the colour of painting of façades, therefore the fact that owners are free to do what they like with their property is an illusion.

On the other hand FAA has fought for and recently won financial assistance for owners to restore their heritage properties, which is a major step in the right direction.