MEPA approves Balzan townhouse redevelopment

The MEPA Board has given planning permission for a downscaled redevelopment project of three, adjacent two-storey townhouses in Triq il-Kbira in Balzan.

The development is being proposed by construction magnate Charles Polidano.

After refusing four different Polidano proposals and issuing two enforcement notices against the destruction of heritage features and trees, MEPA board approved the project, which proposes the restoration of three separate dwellings and the construction of an extension at the back of each, the construction of an outdoor parking area and a pool.

The Board cited that with this latest planning application, the permitted works and interventions will not compromise the character and heritage of the urban conservation area of this traditional village. 

The site consists of three, Grade 2 scheduled adjacent two-storey buildings comprising a vernacular building, a British period building, a late Knights period property and a large garden will include the construction of an extension at the back of each property to increase the habitable floor area of each dwelling.

Additional works involve the construction of a 4 car outdoor parking area and the re-alignment of the existing rear party wall in the garden.

The restoration works include the conservation of the properties and the retention of a number of significant features and structures within the properties which include a mill room, an underground cistern and WWII shelter and a pigeon loft.

The Authority issued an Emergency Conservation Order on the properties in July 2011 and scheduled the same properties in January 2012, following which the site owner had carried out works which included the reconstruction of the alley wall, the reconstruction of the mill room roof, restoration of the pigeon loft, cleaning and repair of the cistern, repair of dangerous sections of party walls and the reconstruction of pergola columns and passageways amongst others.

The Board imposed two bank guarantees, one of €46,000 to ensure that the restoration works are carried out according to the agreed method statement and another of €13,400 to ensure that landscaping works are carried out in line with approved drawings. A penalty was also imposed for works that were carried out without planning permission.

The Superintendent for Cultural Heritage found no objection to this project.

This was the sixth planning application on this site. Previous applications which all were refused by the Authority included the proposed demolition of the buildings for the construction of 14 maisonettes, followed by a proposal to construction 18 terraced houses and even a proposal to construct a residential development comprising 43 dwelling units with underground parking facilities. The planning application which was approved today will not include the construction of any new dwellings. The three protected properties will be renovated and used for residential purposes.  

Polidano was served with two enforcement orders, one issued in 2004 in view of the demolition of part of a building, walls and other structures in back gardens and another issued in 2012 in view of the uprooting of trees and the pulling down of part of a garden rubble wall. Subsequently the law courts confirmed the validity of these enforcements.
In July 2013 Magistrate Anthony Vella fined Polidano €100,000 for the destruction of trees.

The garden wall collapsed in 2011 after it was left without any support following the illegal demolition of part of the building.

Din l-Art Helwa is also objecting to the proposed project because the application consists in the sanctioning of works carried out illegally in the past, which included the removal of rubble walls and protected trees, to make way for the development.

The NGO pointed out that one of the three dwellings has already been illegally demolished. Din l-Art Helwa pointed out that according to law any application to sanction an illegality in a listed building must be refused if the illegality has not been remedied prior or during the processing of the application.

But the case officer report refers to a number of remedial works carried out by the developer following the issue of an Emergency Conservation Order by the MEPA in 2012.