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Julian Manduca
A former military barracks close to the picturesque Dingli cliffs is to be turned into private ‘villas’ after the MEPA Development Control Commission (DCC) reversed the recommendations of its directorate on three separate occasions.
Permission has now been granted to Mr Anton Camilleri and Mr Charles Agius to turn parts of the barracks into residences – in one case the development is described as a villa with a 50 square metre swimming pool - and Mr Agius has now applied to include the part of the basement of the barracks into his home.
The buildings form part of a former military barracks which was constructed as part of the former Naval Signalling Station in 1957. The military barracks is listed as a Grade 2 through Section 2 of the Antiquities Protection Act and the site is located within a Level 3 area of ecological importance.
The now unused military barracks is located at Ta’ Ghar Bittija in Triq it-Turretta, outside the approved planning scheme for Dingli and, as an area of ecological importance, is part of the buffer zone to protect the coastal cliffs.
Despite case officer’s reports to refuse the applications, applicants Agius and Camilleri, assisted in all instances by architects Demicoli and Associates, were granted a permit. In its comments when approving the application for Agius’s residence, the MEPA DCC justified the granting of the permit on the basis that a similar application – that of Camilleri - had been granted nearly a year earlier.
Towards the end of 2000 Mr Anton Camilleri first applied for an outline permit and in mid 2002 for a full-development permission for his villa overlooking Dingli cliffs.
MEPA’s planning directorate recommended refusal to the outline development in November of 2001.
Case officer Mark Zammit described the site as being “part of the barrack quarters, a complex which is made up of for main blocks with ancillary buildings. The complex was built in 1957 possibly connected to NATO defence measures which were commissioned during this time.”
The site is located within an area of ecological importance and is part of a Grade 2 listed building, which means that “alterations to the interior will be allowed if proposed to be carried out sensitively and causing least detriment to the character and architectural homogeneity of the building.”
Camilleri applied to open apertures and construct internal walls as well as an extension of two rooms at ground floor level and a smaller extension at first floor level.
Case officer Zammit recommended that Camilleri’s application be rejected because it would “lead to urbanisation outside those areas specifically designated for urban use in the Structure Plan” and “runs counter to the Structure Plan strategy to channel development into existing and committed urban areas to constrain further inroads into undeveloped land.”
It was noted that Camilleri’s proposal ran counter to MEPA’s policies which have to be met for conversions of buildings in rural areas because it exceeds “the allowable 150 square metres.” Policy PLP 20 states that “extensions to buildings must not create a total floor space which exceeds 150 metres.”
Outline permission was granted by the MEPA DCC on 2 April 2002. In giving its approval the DCC stated that the application was “approved since the type of development will allow rehabilitation of the structure and thus is in line with the North West Local Plan policy of the draft local plan for the area which also specifies residential use.”
In May of 2002 Camilleri applied for a full development permit.
Once again MEPA’s planning directorate recommended refusal. This time case officer Richard Lia pointed out “the building has a footprint of approximately 85 square metres and a total floor space of approximately 170 square metres. The first floor level is accessed from an external stairwell. An existing free standing structure measuring 13 square metres is proposed to be extended to 24 square metres to serve as a garage and a 50 square metre swimming pool is proposed.”
Refusal was recommended because the proposal “entails inappropriate additions which are out of context within the site and surrounding area of historical and cultural value,” and run counter to Structure Plan policies. The swimming pool also attracted the case officer’s attention and Lia said the proposal would go against the adopted Development Control Policy related to swimming pools outside the development zone.
Lia pointed out that the proposed boundry wall is also against Structure Plan policy. The DCC disagreed with Lia and granted a full development permit on 2 April 2003.
MEPA’s Heritage Advisory Committee objected to Charles Agius’s application, adjacent to that of Camilleri stating: “The committee has inspected the site and is of the opinion that the application should not be approved because the proposed development will spoil its original character including the outside staircase.”
According to case officer, once again Richard Lia, in charge of the application, “one of the main objectives of draft North-West Local Plan policy guideline 12 is to conserve the architectural and historical value of the former military buildings and their overall context in its entirety.”
The guideline does not exclude that the building can be rehabilitated, but states: “the rehabilitation must only have a minimal effect on the overall appearance and military character of the building.”
Mr Lia warned that approving the application would “set an unacceptable precedent to similar alterations and additions within the remainder of the former military barracks and environs.”
The case officer wrote in his recommendation for refusal that the area was within a Level 3 Area of Ecological Importance “where further intervention, particularly in the form proposed, is not desirable. The proposal would therefore adversely affect the area, hinder its protection and run counter to the rural conservation and ecological objectives of the Structure Plan.”
According to MEPA’s website the DCC approved the application in view of the approval of two other applications which had been approved: those of Mr Anton Camilleri.
It is unclear whether the land in question was government or private land, the lands department until going to press did not reply to a request by MaltaToday.
julian@newsworksltd.com
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