12
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 OCTOBER 2025
NEWS
Last townhouse
on Tower Road
holds its ground
THE Planning Authority has
rejected an application to com-
pletely demolish a townhouse
on tower road and replace it
with a 10-storey apartment
block.
The house is presently sand-
wiched between the blank party
walls of two massive 10-storey
blocks that dwarf it. With the
surrounding area completely
transformed over the past four
decades, the addition of extra
floors did not stir controversy.
However, the proposal did
not even consider retaining the
building's elegant façade. In Ju-
ly, the Planning Commission
had postponed its decision,
requesting revised plans that
would retain the façade while
allowing for a garage opening.
The commission was even
willing to grant a one-metre
concession over the height
limit, on the condition that
the façade was retained. But
no such plans were submitted,
and the application, submitted
by developer Karl Hyzler, was
rejected on the grounds that
the façade design on Tower
Road "does not relate well and
detracts from the existing con-
text."
Curiously, the development
was also found to be in breach
of a local plan policy requiring
the façade design to be identical
to and continuous with that of
its neighbouring buildings. The
two adjacent buildings, howev-
er, have a contemporary design.
The permit was further re-
fused because the proposed
ground floor level extended
beyond the allowable 30-metre
plot depth.
JAMES
DEBONO
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
The Planning Authority has rejected
plans to replace a Tower Road
townhouse with a 10-storey apartment
block, after the developer failed to
submit revised designs retaining the
building's façade
