A controversial planning authority decision allowing a modern four-storey apartment block to be built in an old area of Xemxija has highlighted, yet again, the capricious way in which planning laws are applied and the accelerating urban uglification which has been the hallmark of Malta’s construction development for the last two decades.
The Mepa appeals tribunal recently overturned a previous decision to refuse an application made seven years ago which would have led to the demolition of existing two-storey buildings in Triq is-Simar on the Xemxija waterfront and the construction of a new four-storey block.
The area consists of two-storey detached villas built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which were designed in a terraced fashion that followed the natural contours of the ground as it sloped down towards the coast.
In its original decision to block the development, the Mepa board had invoked policies BEN 1 and BEN 2, which prohibit developments which are “incompatible with the good urban design, natural heritage and environmental characteristics of an area”. It had argued that, given the character and existing context of the area, the proposed building constituted over-development.
In their appeal, however, the developers pleaded that the two policies should not apply in this case as the area had been zoned by the Local Plan for four-storey development – an argument which the appeals tribunal has upheld.
The implications for planning construction development in Malta and for the aesthetics and protection of the conservation of Malta’s architectural heritage are wide-sweeping and set a dangerous legal precedent.
As the lawyer representing the Xemxija residents, Rudolfo Ragonesi stated: “The judgment has in one fell swoop struck off policies BEN 1 and BEN 2 from the law books, determining erroneously that they cannot be applicable wherever there is a local plan in place. It would create a developers’ paradise where the height limitations at law would become instead the de facto standard height.”
The residents of Xemxija are justified in their concern that the urban fabric of the area they have hitherto enjoyed living in will be altered irrevocably for the worse.
The revised building height regulations which were misguidedly introduced some nine years ago have led to four-storey buildings transforming our urban conservation areas. The very characteristics which made them attractive in the first place are being destroyed.
What has happened throughout Malta, where there were once some of the most striking examples of classical vernacular architecture, stands as a stark warning to what could happen in Xemxija if the policies set down in BEN 1 and BEN 2 are ignored.
They have the historical precedents of Sliema and St Julian’s to guide them. There, elegant buildings were destroyed and replaced by utilitarian apartment blocks with their quality of design sacrificed on the altar of economic expedience and greed.
The visual balance and aesthetic impact of the whole area from Spinola Bay to Tignè Point has been altered, and not for the better, as beautiful old houses have been demolished. The old streetscapes which had typified the architectural heritage of Sliema and St Julian’s have made way for a hodgepodge of four-storey apartment blocks dwarfing old houses built in the traditional style.
Our built environment has a significant impact on our quality of life. Urban conservation areas were designated as such in recognition of the need to preserve their historical character. Policies BEN 1 and BEN 2 provide intrinsic safeguards that must be preserved.