Mepa halts demolition of Valletta police station

The demolition of the former police station in Valletta, as part of Renzo Piano’s City Gate project, was halted yesterday afternoon after a breach of permit was revealed to the planning authority board.

Labour MP Roderick Galdes informed fellow board members that demolition works had started on the building in South Street without an approved construction management plan – one of the permit’s conditions.

The violation was flagged up during the Malta Environment and Planning Authority weekly board meeting, as it heard a separate application for the demolition of the former Bank of Valletta offices next door to the police station.

Mr Galdes pointed out that the government-commissioned works to demolish the police station, announced on July 5, could only go ahead under an approved construction management plan, which gave clear direction on excavation and demolition.

“These works are illegal because there is a clear breach of permit conditions,” he said.

When questioned by chairman Austin Walker, the case officers admitted it was the case. They explained that the construction plan for the police station had been incorporated in the application to demolish the former BOV offices, which was approved by the board yesterday. Mr Walker agreed “it was wrong” for the works to have started before the plan was approved.

The planning authority’s CEO, Ian Stafrace, pointed out that the construction management plan was usually approved by the directorate and very rarely by the board. But since the construction plan relating to the demolition of the police station was included with the permit to demolish the former bank, the directorate could not approve it so referred it to the board, Dr Stafrace explained. “Technically the construction management plan was not approved because of a procedural hitch,” he said.

However, “technically” the applicant – in this case Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation – breached the permit condition by going ahead with the works, Dr Stafrace added. He suggested that enforcement officers visit the site and evaluate whether the works fell in line with the plan submitted but which was only approved yesterday.

Once the evaluation was completed, the authority would look into what measures would be taken against the applicant.

The demolition works would not restart until an evaluation was carried out, a planning authority spokesman said.

In a statement issued later in the afternoon, he said “the board resolved to send enforcement officers to see if there was a breach of condition and, if so, to quantify the extent. This would be discussed at a later sitting. The board declared that it will not accept any breaches or illegalities”.

Meanwhile, the demolition of the former five-storey bank offices will make way for a new square next to St Catherine’s church in Valletta and the underground backstage facilities for the roofless theatre that will replace the Royal Opera House ruins.

The backstage will extend from the new square across the road to the basement of Casa Cassar, also known as Casa Lanfreducci, which is used as the headquarters of the Malta Association of the Knights of St John. A room believed to have been used for funerary purposes, which had been linked to the adjoining crypt of Our Lady of Victories Church, will not be used in the project. Instead, the room will be reconnected to the crypt.

The City Gate project was approved in March 2010 and consists of the rebuilding of the Valletta entrance, the building of Parliament House and a roofless theatre on the site of the former Royal Opera House.