The Planning Directorate was yesterday accused of resorting to “every loophole in planning policies” to justify a development at picturesque Spinola Bay in St Julians.

The planned block would wall up windows in the one behind

The St Julians Residents Association and environmental NGO Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar lambasted the directorate for backing a plan for a six-storey block in a three-storey area.

The directorate falls within the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, whose board will discuss the application for the project today.

In a statement, the NGOs pointed out that the building would wall up the windows of the block behind it. They said the directorate ignored the 1895 Police Sanitary Law, which stated a building adjacent to a street or alley could not be higher than three times the width of the road –1.5 metres in this case.

And while objectors had to make submissions up to 10 days before a hearing, the development’s architect was allowed to submit new plans only three days before. The plans retained the overall building height at six floors.

The organisations also said the project violated Mepa regulations that new developments should create a good quality internal and external environment, maintain or improve existing quality and be compatible with its context and surrounding area.