New five-storey extension for Dar Bjorn

The ALS charity run by tireless campaigner Bjorn Formosa is eying an even larger facility in Ħaż-Żebbuġ by connecting its existing six-storey respite home in Triq Pawlu Balzan, to a new facility to be developed instead of a two-storey townhouse in the narrow Triq Paris, 40m off the urban conservation area.

The request is to demolish the townhouse, retain the façade and add three storeys and an underground car park, to house eight residential rooms and two therapy rooms.

The top two storeys will be stepped back to minimise the visual impact.

Eight residents from the town have already objected to the additional three storeys on the existing façade which they fear will create an unbearable eyesore which will ruin the characteristic architectural features of the whole street.

But although the street is entirely composed of two storey houses, the development as proposed conforms to the height limitation of the area.

Residents also expressed concern on the traffic impact on the narrow Triq Paris, and the effect on the structural stability of their houses which may be undermined by excavation.

The care home was approved in 2018 and came as a result of the tireless fundraising initiatives captained by ALS sufferer and activist Bjorn Formosa. The six-storey facility was approved within a residential zone with a height limitation of three floors. Back then, the case officer acknowledged that the proposed development exceeds the height limitation of the area.

But noting the proposed use of the new facility, the PA’s directorate decided to apply a policy regulating the heights of old people’s homes, which permits an additional two floors over and above the number of floors permitted in the local plan, provided that “the resultant design features a high-quality product in keeping with the urban context and no blank walls are created.”