The Grade 2 scheduled townhouse on the Pietà seafront.

The fate of a Grade 2 scheduled townhouse on the Pietà seafront will be decided today by the three-member Planning Commission following a refusal of a request for the case to be heard by the full Planning Board.

The application, which is recommended for approval, will convert the protected pre-19th century townhouse into a six-storey apartment block.

Objectors argue that the development will have an irreversible negative impact on the historic streetscape and set a precedent that will ruin the well-preserved row of six townhouses, all scheduled, that the property forms part of.

Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar requested last week that the case be heard by the full Planning Board, which includes representatives from the environment authority and NGOs, to ensure adequate scrutiny in light of the sensitivity of the site.

READ: The 'beginning of the end' of Pietà's historic seafront?

This request, however, was overwhelmingly rejected by the board. The application will now be heard by the smaller Planning Commission alongside more than 70 other cases this morning.

Both FAA and Din L-Art Ħelwa have strongly objected to the proposal. Apart from concerns about the streetscape, the NGOs argue that the applicant did not submit any photographic evidence of the building’s internal features, and that the additional floors do not conform to the existing architecture.

DLĦ has called for the proposal to be amended to integrate and possibly reuse the existing internal architecture.

“The manic construction-boom that has taken over the island will be remembered as the greatest pillage of our nation’s identity to the extent that no war has ever inflicted,” said FAA environment officer Tara Cassar.

“We cannot keep wiping out our heritage, our beauty, our identity – all in the name of profit. When this craze ends we’ll be left with apartment blocks upon apartment blocks, and a postcard to show others what once made Malta the jewel of the Mediterranean.”

But the PA case officer, who has recommended the proposal for approval, has insisted that the development is in line with all relevant planning policies and has seen the green-light by heritage authorities.

The Heritage Planning Unit had objected to previous plans to de-schedule and demolish the building, but these plans were later revised to incorporate the existing structure into the new development.

Neither the HPU nor the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has objected to the current plans, which will retain the facade but add five additional floors and significantly alter the interior.