A four-storey block is to be built in the garden of one of a row of five traditional houses after the SCH said it posed no threat to heritage.

The Planning Authority has approved plans for a four-storey apartment block in the back garden of one of a row of five traditional one-storey houses in Qala, Gozo.

The application in Triq il-Qala was approved by the Planning Commission  despite the protests of residents, who argued that the development, just outside the Urban Conservation Area, would further degrade the streetscape and Qala’s village character.

“With both Triq in-Nadur and Triq San Gużepp sloping towards the Qala Parish Church, these houses naturally provide a typical Gozitan streetscape, with the Qala parish church standing dominant and unobstructed,” the residents wrote in an objection to the PA.

“It will invariably spell irreversible damage to what the architectural and social texture of these houses, a stones’ throw away from the imposing Qala Parish Church, stand and stood for.”

The residents expressed fear that approval would pave the way for a “potential avalanche of tall buildings” in the gardens of the other character houses in the cluster and in an adjacent plot of land, which includes a fully detached 350-year-old bakery, which is still functional.

These houses naturally provide a typical Gozitan streetscape, with the parish church dominant and unobstructed

Further concern was raised over the impact of added traffic on the narrow surrounding streets. Heritage NGO Din L-Art Ħelwa also objected, calling for the area’s architectural value to be protected.

The apartment development will see the demolition of the garden and some existing structures, and the construction of a maisonette, shop and eight flats over four floors, as well as five underlying garages.

The Planning Directorate recommended the application for approval after the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (SCH) raised no objection to the proposal, which it said posed no “evident threat” to cultural heritage.

The directorate also noted that the building height was in line with existing policies, matching that of a number of similar developments further up the road.