Din l-Art Ħelwa has again expressed concern and alarm about unauthorised rooftop additions on two historic houses in Merchants Street, Valletta.

The additions first came to public attention in November 2016. The unauthorised works are now being considered for sanctioning.

In the case of the historic house at 176, Merchants Street, recently converted into the St John Boutique Hotel, the rooftop floor that has been built is twice the extent allowed in the planning permit.

This house is already the highest along this part of Merchant Street, and, therefore, the unauthorised rooftop additions were not permissible or sanctionable according to the Planning Authority’s present planning policies and guidance.

Din l-Art Ħelwa said it was gravely concerned that, in spite of this, and in spite of the various objections raised by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, NGOs, the Valletta council and the public, the case officer report recommended that permission for sanctioning be granted. The hearing is due on October 4.

The organisation appealed to the authority to scrutinise the case with urgency and investigate how a recommendation to grant permission could be made when it was contradictory to the current planning policy framework, particularly the Development Control Design Policy, Guidance and Standards 2015.

If the unauthorised works were to be sanctioned and allowed to remain, they would become a permanent scar on an important part of Valletta’s roofscape, in the very heart of the city and in the immediate vicinity of some of its most important public monuments.

Din l-Art Ħelwa considered that, if a decision was taken to grant permission for these abusively built structures, the authority would be giving the worst possible message, rewarding and encouraging flagrant abuse and illegalities.

It would also create a very harmful precedent for similar additions in the same block.

For a few doors away in the same block, at 167 Merchants Street, there was already another flagrant case of an entire new floor that was built without a permit on top of the historic palace known as Casa Roselli Massa and which was now also being considered for sanctioning.