Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1410377
8 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2021 Modernist villa overlooking protected St Paul's Bay coastline under threat JAMES DEBONO A planning application has been presented seeking to demolish an existing two-sto- rey modernist villa in Sqaq tax-Xama in St Paul's Bay, built before 1968. The applicants want to build a five-sto- rey block of flats, with basement parking garage and the construction of two swim- ming pools at ground floor and also on the roof. The existing villa is situated adjacent to coastal cliffs in an area protected as an Ar- ea of Ecological Importance. It is also immediately adjacent to the Ur- ban Conservation Area (UCA) of St Paul's Bay and an Area of High Landscape Val- ue (AHLV). The villa is also located 50m from Palazzo Pescatore, scheduled by the Planning Authority at Grade 2. The Superintendence for Cultural Her- itage is objecting to the development, saying that it is "incongruous with the surrounding area", and warning that the proposed building will be highly "con- spicuous even from long distance views". The SCH called for more detailed images of the existing villa, noting that it is con- structed "in a pleasant design and mod- ernist idiom." The Environment and Resources Au- thority described the proposed develop- ment as "not acceptable", warning that excavation works could have a direct im- pact on the coastal cliffs. The ERA has called for a geotechnical study to evalu- ate the works and provide a technical re- port determining the loading capacity of the proposed building on the terrain, to confirm its stability once development is ready. While not excluding the redevelopment of the site, ERA called for a revision of plans and design, which is less visually intrusive and more sensitive to its sur- roundings. Five-storey block could take place of 'pleasant and modernist' villa