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NEWS 5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 NOVEMBER 2022 mature trees on site. It asked that the developer integrates the trees into the project's de- sign. But conservation NGO Din l-Art Helwa called the zoning request illegal, because the PA is not allowed at law to rezone areas where development is not allowed, into developable areas. The 1,300sq.m plot, whose trees and shrubs are enclosed by a high wall, would make way for the 17.5m-high resi- dence, despite forming part of a wider green area, if the zon- ing request is accepted. This piece of land cannot be developed as it is zoned for potential cemetery expansion in the 2006 local plans, which refers to the rising demand for private graves by people in their own locality. Applicant Alexie Tabone said he does not own the entire site but has presented consent forms from the other site owners. Zoning applications are meant to set development pa- rameters for particular sites, either in cases where devel- opers ask for a change in local plan policies, as is the case for this application, or when these parameters are not clearly es- tablished in the local plan. New plans for hotel on site of demolished heritage building JAMES DEBONO NEW plans have been submit- ted for the construction of a five-storey guesthouse instead of a scheduled building fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade which was illegally knocked down in 2010. In the latest plans the three extra storeys on top of the re- constructed two-storey building have been pushed back entirely on Triq is-Silġ, outside the ur- ban conservation area (UCA) of Marsaxlokk, with the pool area being located on the roof on top of the two storeys overlooking the promenade. Photomontages of the develop- ment suggest that the three top floors will not be visible from the underlying pavement and prom- enade but would still rise higher than any other building in the area when seen from a higher altitude. The part of the building front- ing Xatt is-Sajjieda was previ- ously occupied by a protected building, which was illegally de- molished in 2010. The building was demolished after the police ordered the owner to remove dangerous structures due to falling mason- ry. Subsequently, a permit was issued allowing the owners to carefully dismantle a dangerous collapsed roof, but not the façade of the old building. But the build- ing was instead demolished in its entirety. But in 2017, the Planning Au- thority not only "sanctioned" the illegal demolition of the protect- ed building against a planning contribution of €50,000, but allowed the owners to build a restaurant and an overlying mai- sonette in its place. The façade of the restaurant was to be an exact replica of the demolished building and had to be finished in pointed weathered stone and timber and glass apertures em- ployed. In its reaction to a visual impact assessment presented by the de- velopers the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage "favoura- bly" noted "the evolution in the facade's design" overlooking Xatt is-Sajjieda, which now ap- proximates the design approved in 2017, which is "evocative of the demolished historic façade". Nevertheless, the SCH noted that the proposed glass railing is not in keeping with the sur- roundings. Moreover the SCH is still objecting to development overlooking Triq tas-Silġ, de- scribing the proposed transition into the UCA as "unacceptable". The SCH called on the project's architect to revise plans with more "appropriate terracing." The five-storey guesthouse is being proposed in between two protected two-storey buildings fronting the Marsaxlokk prom- enade, on the site where a pro- tected building was illegally de- molished over a decade ago. But that illegal demolition was later 'sanctioned' – read, regu- larised – against a €50,000 fine in 2017, when the Planning Au- thority had issued a permit for a two-storey restaurant develop- ment. The plot stretching between the picturesque Xatt is-Sajjieda and the residential Triq tas-Silġ, where the hotel is being pro- posed, is partly located in the Urban Conservation Area where development cannot surpass two floors. The plans presented by the owners of the site, foresee the erection of three receded floors on the part of the plot which is outside the UCA boundary. A pool area is being proposed on the part of the building where the height is being limited to two storeys. The application is one storey lower than that foreseen in an application refused back in 2017 due to its "unacceptable visual impact". The development is being pro- posed by Itaiana Abela, a direc- tor in FSH Fashion Retail Ltd and Cieffe Projects, both owned by F Schembri Holdings.

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