126 residents of part of Guardamangia Hill, Zammit Clapp Street, Blackley Street and the surrounding area had submitted a petition to the prime minister insisting that no permit should be granted for the proposed new primary school at  St Augustine College in Pieta'.

The original application was turned own by Mepa last month and an appeal is pending. Students, parents and teachers recently held a protest in Floriana and Valletta, calling for the decision to be revoked.

Dr Malcolm Mifsud, writing on behalf of the petitioners, said the petition had been signed by more than 90% of the households that would be affected by the development.

He said the development application did not conform to several Mepa policies and the latest Mepa decision was consistent with another refusal for development on the same site which even the college had objected to.

He said the petitioners were not against the students or their parents, but against development by the college on a site marked as an urban conservation area. The college, he said, should be bound by the same policies as every citizen.