PA ignores cultural heritage watchdog to approve eight-storey block in Pieta

The Planning Authority has greenlit the construction of an eight-storey block with seven flats overlooking Triq ix-Xatt in Pietà, despite multiple objections from the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (SCH).

The SCH had deemed the development “unacceptable” due to its “clear negative impact on the value of several scheduled properties in the immediate vicinity,” particularly Villa Ciantar, Villa Frère, and their Grade 1 listed gardens.

The area is already impacted by a neighbouring development approved in 2010, which rises to a similar height. However, conservationists fear the new development will further obstruct views from the protected gardens and from the nearby Pietà primary school’s garden.

The site was previously occupied by a dilapidated two-storey building, which was demolished following a permit issued to Ciantar Properties Limited in 2017. At that time, only a single dwelling was permitted, and the development included plans to reconstruct the old building, including its traditional balcony, with an additional setback floor, rising to a height of 12.6 metres.

When objecting to the current development, also proposed by Ciantar Properties, the SCH raised concerns about the increased scale of the project compared to the 2017 permit.

The SCH highlighted that the original permit for the total demolition of the old building was issued on the condition that the new design replicated the historic building’s form, preserving some historical character and not further compromising the streetscape.

However, the new building approved last week does not replicate the original structure and would be double the height of the building approved in 2017.

In response, the Planning Directorate rejected the SCH’s objections, arguing that the proposed height complies with the area’s height limitations. It also pointed to similar developments of the same height within the same street, particularly the adjacent building.

Regarding the design, the directorate noted that the first three levels retain a traditional architectural style, featuring mainly vertical apertures and open balconies with wrought iron railings, while the design of the remaining floors adopted a more contemporary style, similar to that of the neighbouring property.

Reacting to the approval, the NGO Friends of Villa Frère warned that the development would compromise views of the Msida Bastion Cemetery, where John Hookham Frère had buried his wife and sister, from the Grand Belvedere of Villa Frère Gardens.

The NGO also warned that the development would “mutilate the context of Villa Frère and Giardino Zamittello, both Grade 1 heritage monuments,” and would overshadow the Hookham Frère Primary School, negatively impacting “the well-being of its hundreds of young pupils.”