Television House and Rediffusion House in Guardamangia will not quite bite the dust for the time being after the Malta Environment and Planning Authority this morning postponed its decision on whether they should be pulled down.

Public Broadcasting Services is seeking permission to pull them down, build a new headquarters and have an adjacent complex of apartments and commercial premises.

The application was recommended for refusal by the authority’s own internal consulting bodies and by the Planning Directorate, which makes the technical recommendation for planning applications. However, the authority decided to postpone the decision this morning on account of the fact that submissions, countering the directorate’s recommendation made by PBS’s architect had been submitted at the eleventh hour.

The authority’s board said it wanted more time to review the response and also asked for the comments of the Superintendence of Cultural heritage.

The broadcasting landmarks, which heralded the advent of mass telecommunications, may not look like much at the moment, largely because they have not been maintained properly for a while, but they are both actually scheduled buildings on account of their value as examples of quality modern architecture.