A developer hoping to convert a 19th-century Sliema townhouse into a six-storey apartment block was told by the Planning Authority today to revise his proposal.

The plans to convert the Cathedral Street property had been recommended for refusal by the Planning Directorate. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage had said the house, one of a row of well-preserved properties, should be retained and restored.

But during a public hearing, the PA board opted not to vote on the proposal as is, instead voting to give the developer time to make the plans more acceptable, likely to be done by reducing the height.

The proposal to give the developer more time was made by Matthew Pace, a government appointee, and passed by four votes to three.

Only seven of the board's 13 members attended the hearing, which had to be delayed by nearly an hour because a quorum could not be reached.

During the hearing, Sliema local councillor Paul Radmilli argued that the decision would seal the fate of the entire row of houses, which are within the Sliema Urban Conservation Area and were commissioned by the Mdina Cathedral between 1870 and 1886 for clergymen from renowned families.

He noted that there were no neighbouring commitments, as required by planning policy, to justify an additional four floors.

Project architect Colin Zammit, meanwhile, argued that the application was justified in light of the mix of building heights and architectural styles in the area.

The architect has already amended the proposal once before, scrapping plans to demolish the building, retaining only the façade, amid public pressure and objections from the SCH.

These changes were derided as a “miserable attempt to ease heritage concerns” by Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, who earlier this week made a last appeal to the PA board to preserve the property in line with the recommendations of the SCH and Planning Directorate.