FAA attacks MEPA decision on Sliema townhouse

Joe Camilleri

Feb 5th 2009, 21:38

why don't FAA buy 75 Windsor Street, Sliema, and the adjcent buildings, and leave them as they are !!

How dare they impose on property that is not theirs.

michael southgate

Feb 5th 2009, 20:56

.... AND MORE LOST GARDENS AND GREENERY, NO DOUBT!
SOON THERE WILL BE NO OXYGEN LEFT IN SLIEMA.

Amanda Mallia

Feb 5th 2009, 20:46

I suppose that now that a precedent has been set, we can expect number 52 to go down too ...

http://www.mepa.org.mt/Planning/index.htm?../asps/DC_search_by_arch.htm&1

Amanda Mallia

Feb 5th 2009, 20:43

The site in question seems to fall under the category "Urban Conservation Area". Does that not mean that the house is meant to be left as it is?

http://www.mepa.org.mt/Planning/index.htm?../asps/DC_search_by_arch.htm&1


Retaining the facade does not mean that the streetscape will not be ruined, because all sense of proportion will then most certainly be lost.

Amanda Mallia

Feb 5th 2009, 20:34

And more of Sliema is set to be destroyed ...



http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080724/local/asds

James A. Tyrrell

Feb 5th 2009, 20:26

Before the election Gonzi said that he was going to reform Mepa. Well we can all see the results of that reform now. They are the same bunch of environmental hooligans they always were.

Ray Montebello

Feb 5th 2009, 20:26

Sliema is now built up to many more storeys than the old two. One cannot allow some to build up to nine storeys (on the front), others to build to four or five (many parts of internal Sliema including most of the street where Windsor Terrace lies) and others (who had decided not to build in the past when they would have obtained the permits very rapidly) not to be able to build at all. I know Sliema very well and I can assure anyone that many people who complain about new building are the ones that have built up to four/five storeys long ago and who are now complaining that they will lose 'their' views. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Those who built up so many storeys in the past should not complain if their neighbours do likewise.

J Azzopardi

Feb 5th 2009, 20:24

Are any of the bloggers complaining willing to compensate the owners? MEPA found a compromise in the circumstances.

Ray Sultana

Feb 5th 2009, 20:13

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!!

A disgusting decision by Mepa... an elegant row of houses destroyed forever. More ugliness, more blank third party walls, more inconsistent decisions and more of our heritage destroyed.

Julian Vella

Feb 5th 2009, 20:01

MEPA's decision here is the right one. All over Sliema, owners have been building ever higher buildings for the last 30 years. Some just didn't. That doesn't mean that now they should not be allowed to build simply because they did not build before as so many others were doing.

c.camilleri

Feb 5th 2009, 19:44

The best thing for the Govt to do is to do nothing. Whatever is proposed is opposed by someone or the other. So doing nothing is will be his only mistake.

pat camilleri

Feb 5th 2009, 19:40

"Il fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay",so says oliver goldsmith of greed.Shocking, disgusting,Shame on whoever is responsible.

Mary Fisher

Feb 5th 2009, 19:24

Gonzi and MEPA have delivered yet again !!!!!!!!!!! Disgraceful !! I thought much better of the Prime Minister who promised to look after what little is left of Maltese Heritage and Architecture. What is next on the agenda? A skyscraper in place of the Old Theatre in Valletta? Nothing surprises me any more!! It's a litany of broken promises!! i feel so sorry for FAA and Astrid Vella who truly put their heart and soul in all that they aspire to do. When is the next election ?????????

a mifsud

Feb 5th 2009, 19:06

....and the architects should be condemned for having no appreciation for the value of the beauty of the "old" sliema which is now long gone. Working for these contractors they should feel like they are selling their souls .

Mario Ebejer

Feb 5th 2009, 18:36

At last, MEPA has called FAA's bluff and allowed the owners here to build as most of their neighbours have done in the past.

Windsor Terrace has long ago been built to four storey heights and even higher. The owners of the last few houses that remain undeveloped cannot be discriminated against simply becuase they did not decide to develop before.

What FAA wanted would have been a travesty of justice as it would have discriminated against those who had not developed their buildings before and in favour of those who built before them.

FAA was definitely wrong on this one. Behind this block there are the houses on the front - up to nine storeys high. What FAA wanted was that the flats on the front enjoy views to the north AND to the south over Windsor Terrace whereas these Windsor Terrace houses would not have been allowed even half the number of storeys of the front.

Well done MEPA.

Phil Humphries

Feb 5th 2009, 18:03

Don't look to Mepa to save what's left of beauty in Sliema; you only have to look around you to realise how it believes Malta should look... high, concrete, overcrowded and pug ugly.

So much for the promised reforms. New cover, same old book !

V Fenech

Feb 5th 2009, 17:51

The PM should issue an explanation about who is being responsible for MEPA's performance!

We thought that Gonzi's crebility would reflect in MEPA's neccessary accountability as long as it remained under the supervision of his strong pair of hands. I have serious doubts whether this Administration really knows what both concepts mean when coming to environmental issues because here we are again facing the old problems, if not worse.

The irony is that the Government is trying to make us people think that Malta is a leading model in introducing new ways of conserving a healthy environment, while the demolition of our national inheritance goes on and on!

Karen Zammit Manduca

Feb 5th 2009, 17:34

Disgusting.

I wonder whom the rules are made for in this country!

John Debattista

Feb 5th 2009, 17:02

Fliemkien kollox possibli. Viva il Liberta.

S. Caruana

Feb 5th 2009, 16:49

what an utter digrace!
Imbasta! Mr. Gonzi we thought that you were going to effect some positive changes!