The planning authority’s appeals tribunal has upheld the decision allowing the demolition of three 400-year-old townhouses in the Naxxar village core.

The case had prompted a public outcry for their preservation. Yet the planning authority approved the project in October 2013, allowing the houses adjacent to the parish church to be levelled.

They will be replaced by shops and overlying apartments, also carrying five advertising signs in the heart of one of the oldest villages in Malta. Naxxar was one of only 10 parishes that existed in 1436 and the square is an Urban Conservation Area.

The permit granted to Carmel Bonanno – an architect – sparked outrage, with residents and heritage lobby groups insisting it would destroy part of the area’s identity. A third-party appeal was filed by a neighbour, but the tribunal refused to halt their destruction.

Read more in The Sunday Times of Malta.

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