Pietà mayor Malcolm Mifsud has criticised a planned protest against the planning authority’s decision to turn down the application for St Augustine’s College primary school, saying it would pile undue political pressure on the Office of the Prime Minister.

The protest, planned for tomorrow, was “unfair”, Dr Mifsud told The Times.

A registered objector to the project, Dr Mifsud, who lives in the area, said the planning authority’s decision to reject the application was in line with its regulations and policies.

“The whole area is scheduled as an Urban Conservation Area which means development there is limited and the authority has an obligation to conserve it,” he said.

College students, their parents and teachers are planning to walk from the War Memorial in Floriana to the Office of the Prime Minister to protest against the decision.

Part of a €20-million Church project to expand five schools, the plans for the primary school were rejected after the officer on the case said the design and height of the proposed building were unacceptable.

“The planning authority is bound by its own remit and the school went through the entire planning process. They are organising a protest and overreacting because it was turned down,” Dr Mifsud said.

He said the residents were fed up with the problems of limited parking space and inconvenience created by the school. The traffic in the area, which was surrounded by narrow alleys, was already very heavy.

It was understandable that parents would attend the protest. “I would have done it myself. However, at the end of the day it is not an area for a school,” he said.

The project would also ruin two back gardens – given Grade 2 protection status – and create a precedent.

“The rules apply to everyone – it is an urban conservation area and they have to accept it instead of expecting to be the exception,” Dr Mifsud added.