Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1176246
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2019 NEWS JAMES DEBONO A Knights-era farmhouse opposite the Maltapost headquarters in Qormi has been demolished instead of being care- fully dismantled and reconstructed as specified in permit conditions for the new Centreparc shopping mall. The Planning Authority had already intervened to stop the developers from demolishing the farmhouse back in Jan- uary 2018, during excavation works on the site. The permit conditions, approved in October 2018, specified that the farm- house was to be carefully dismantled, with the building blocks being num- bered and stored in an approved store; and then reconstructed, preserving the original plan and layout, using the origi- nal materials. The developers had to deposit a €50,000 bank guarantee and submit a method statement on how they would relocate and reconstruct the mill-room and farmhouse on the site of the Qormi mall. The guarantee can only be released after the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage certifies that the works were carried out in line with the method statement, otherwise it will be forfeited. But the developers' method statement instead proposed the construction of a replica. And as it turns out, the demoli- tion of the original structure was con- firmed during a site inspection by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage last month. None of the original materials, except for Grand Master Pinto's coat of arms, were salvaged. "This is not acceptable," the Superin- tendence said in a memo presented to the Planning Authority. "It is in clear breach of the approved conditions, since it is not in keeping with approved methodology and the Superintendence had not consented to its replacement." According to the restoration method statement for the replica's construction, the farmhouse was demolished due to "the purportedly heavily deteriorated state" of the building. But this issue was never mentioned in the original method statement, nor was the matter ever raised during monitor- ing of works, the Superintendence said. The Superintendence described the reconstruction of the historical stone features in concrete and cladding with stone as a "pastiche" which is "not an acceptable practice as it does not pre- serve the historical fabric and tradition- al techniques". During the site inspection it also tran- spired that the site identified for the re- location of another historical building, an old mill room, had been compro- mised and is currently committed to a different use. The Superintendence is not informed of the current state or location of the structural remains of the mill room, which were to be dismantled and stored. Changing goalposts for a shopping mall The retail complex is developed by Centre Park Holdings, a company owned by Paul Caruana's Quality Hold- ings, Anthony Fenech's Tum Invest and V&C Developments, which is owned by Charles and Vincent Borg. The 2006 local plan had zoned this rural enclave opposite Maltapost as "a soft landscaped area with underlying warehouses". Originally, the warehousing develop- ment had to have a large landscaped area at roof level. But the zoning was changed to a retirement complex in August 2013, when the site belonged to another owner. Back then, the old cor- ner building on site – the Knights-era farmhouse – had to be conserved as a community centre and the area above the development was to be retained as open space. Development was also limited to a maximum floor space of 10,800sq.m. In 2017 the zoning was changed again from a site for an old people's home, to one for retail development. The new zoning still foresaw the relo- cation of the farmhouse, to be disman- tled and relocated to another part of the site. The developer was obliged to protect archaeological remains on the site and to pay for the upkeep of a pub- lic open space area on the roof of the development. Yet the PA is also considering yet an- other policy revision: doing away with a public open space on the roof of the new development, to allow its develop- ers to increase building heights by 11 metres along the Qormi road. The PA launched a public consulta- tion on the revision of the local plan, with the declared aim of deleting the condition for the soft landscape of the roof area. The PA has already approved the Cen- treparc retail centre, which according to approved plans, had to ensure that an underlying Roman tomb is integrated within the new complex so that it re- mains visible to the public as a heritage feature through laminated structural glazing. The farmhouse, now demolished, had to be relocated to the roof of the retail centre to serve as a 'security residence', complete with kitchen and bedroom for security guards. Qormi's Knights-era farmhouse (below) had to be reconstructed with original stone and with due care on site of new Centreparc mall, but the developers ignored the conditions of their permit, claiming the stone was unusable, and rebuilt a replica JAMES DEBONO IT has been 13 years ago when environment minister George Pullicino controversially ex- tended Malta's building zones, but since then he has passed back to private practice and his clients include those who will benefit from the maligned extensions. The owner of a large portion of the land included for devel- opment in 2006, James Barbara, has now entrusted Pullicino to submit a zoning application for three-storey terraced hous- ing over 10,727sq.m of mostly agricultural land along Triq in- Nigret in Zurrieq. Barbara is the owner of James Caterers, representing Grand Property Holdings and four other landowners. George Pullicino is architect for developer James Barbara, who wants to turn 10,000sq.m of Zurrieq farmland into terraced houses Minister who extended building zones works for client eyeing Zurrieq farmland The plans were presented by Pullicino, who is presently han- dling a number of other appli- cations presented by Barbara. The application foresees the extension of existing roads and the formation of a new road. Part of the site along Triq in- Nigret is already built up, but most of the site is occupied by farms and trees. Only last year, a zoning ap- plication was presented by An- ton Camilleri on an adjacent 2,500sq.m plot, which is also earmarked for the de- velopment of four-storey dwellings. Objectors have asked the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage to assess the value of what resi- dents de- scribe as a " c u r i o u s s t r u c - ture in the middle of a field" which could have served as a medieval dwelling or hut. The Planning Authority re- ceived 76 applications to zone sites included in the new build- ing zones added in 2006, up until 2012. 38 other zoning applications were presented between 2013 and the present day. Before requesting a develop- ment permit, owners of the land added to the development zones must present a 'planning control application' to set the zoning, building heights and road network for each site. Owners must present zon- ing applications on these sites within six months. But this 2012 condition has since been withdrawn by the present ad- ministration. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Bulldozed: Knights-era 'replica' irks watchdog As minister for the environment and planning, George Pullicino was responsible for extending Malta's building zones in 2006, the effects of which are being felt today: as architect he represents one of the developers who owns once-ODZ land now waiting to be built over