Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1535522
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 MAY 2025 Heritage showdown: State agencies take on Planning Authority over Pietà flats Two national heritage watchdogs and an NGO are challenging a Planning Authority permit for an eight-storey block in Pietà, warning of severe impacts on protected views and historic sites. A tribunal will decide on the landmark appeal next Thursday THE Environment and Planning Review Tribunal will decide on an unprecedent- ed appeal next Thursday in which two state agencies are contesting a decision by the Planning Authority. The Superintendence for Cultural Her- itage (SCH) and Heritage Malta appealed the PA permit issued for an eight-storey block comprising seven flats overlooking Triq ix-Xatt in Pietà. The permit, issued to Ciantar Properties, had been flagged by MaltaToday in February. A separate appeal has also been filed by the NGO Friends of Villa Frere. The appeal seeks to revoke the Plan- ning Authority's approval. The appeal represents a rare case, en- visaged in planning laws, in which state agencies challenge decisions taken by the Planning Authority. This is not the first time the SCH has appealed a permit issued by the PA. A previous appeal by the agency against the demolition of Diamond House in Balzan led to revised plans that retained the townhouse façade on Old Railway Avenue. However, this is the first time the two national heritage watchdogs are jointly challenging a permit alongside an NGO. In a preliminary hearing in March, the EPRT upheld the appellants' request for the temporary suspension of works for three months, citing "the sensitive con- text which includes a number of sched- uled gardens and buildings." In its appeal, the SCH described the permit as "totally unacceptable in view of the evident negative impact on the values of the numerous scheduled prop- erties in the area." The SCH further warned that the development would "severely obstruct the historical vistas of Valletta and the Msida Bastion Ceme- tery from Villa Frere's upper belvedere." It also raised concerns about the de- velopment's detrimental impact on the modernist Pietà Primary School and the surrounding context of St Luke's Hospi- tal. In its own appeal, Heritage Malta em- phasised that the PA should not "repeat past mistakes" by citing previous permits on adjacent developments. It argued that the proposed block would not only increase the building mass around Villa Frere but also "wrap around it, bringing the massing even closer to all surround- ing scheduled buildings and the Pietà Primary School." The Planning Authority has defended its decision, stating that the proposed height complies with local height lim- itations and citing similar nearby de- velopments, particularly the adjacent building. The PA also insisted that, un- der the local plan, the only landmark building whose views are protected is St Luke's Hospital. Furthermore, it noted that it is not legally obliged to follow the SCH's recommendations, which were addressed in the case officer's report. The site in question was previously oc- cupied by a dilapidated two-storey build- ing, which was demolished following a 2017 permit issued to Ciantar Properties Limited. At the time, permission was granted for a single dwelling that in- cluded plans to reconstruct the original building—including its traditional bal- cony—with an additional setback floor. Heritage activists fear the loss of his- torical and visual link between Villa Frere and the Msida Bastion cemetery on the other side of the harbour where John Hookham Frere's wife lies buried. Upon the death of his wife, Frere chan- nelled his grief in the creation of an Eng- lish landscape garden up towards Guar- damangia which included a tower-like belvedere crowning the hill, strategical- ly so that he could see his wife's tomb across the water at the Msida Bastion Cemetery. Frere had previously befriended Mal- tese patriot Mikiel Anton Vassalli. Upon Vassalli's death, Frere ensured he got a respectable burial at the same cemetery, also visible from Villa Frere's Grand Bel- vedere. "The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage warned that the development would severely obstruct the historical vistas of Valletta and the Msida Bastion Cemetery from Villa Frere's upper belvedere" Massing of proposed development from Belvedere in Villa Frere (right) compared with existing view (left)