Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/506094
James Debono The owners of Villa Bonici in Sliema have presented an applica- tion aimed at setting the planning parameters for the development of "a boutique hotel, an old people's home and residential development" in the existing gardens surrounding the historical villa. In February 2014, the MePA board turned down an application for 188 apartments in four blocks, the highest being 12 storeys high. The development was re- fused because the local plan stipulates that a development brief should be presented before any de- velopment is approved. In fact the new application pro- poses "a development brief " on the 11,500 square metre site. Normally it is MePA that drafts development briefs before the pri- vate sector submits proposals based on the parameters set by the au- thority. But this case is considered different because the land in ques- tion is privately-owned. But in March last year, a spokes- person for MePA told MaltaToday that "discussions between Mepa and the land owner are still under- way" on who will be drawing up the development brief. The application attracted contro- versy for its radical redevelopment of the green space, a garden belong- ing to the stately Villa Bonici, and a unique house in the over-developed Sliema and Gzira area. The main reason given last year in the case officer's report for re- fusing the development was that no development brief, as stipulated by the North harbour Local Plan, has been devised for this zone. The development refused by MePA in- cluded an eight-storey block, which would also have an adverse impact on the scheduled villa, due to the short distance between the two buildings. Villa Bonici was built before 1872 as a country residence for em- manuele Testaferrata Bonici Ghax- aq. Parts of Villa Bonici in Sliema were scheduled as a Grade 2 prop- erty in 2010. Its present owner, Alfred Gera de Petri, has insisted that Villa Bonici is his family's private property and that the villa's location in the middle of urban development gave its own- ers rights to its monetary value. The Sliema Residents Associa- tion's proposal to "preserve" Villa Bonici and its gardens was to change the local plan in such a manner as to develop the property into a pub- lic garden and old people's home. In 2010 former parliamentary sec- retary Mario de Marco had warned that this was not possible unless the property was expropriated by the government and its owners com- pensated. In its history MePA has approved 18 development briefs on its own initiative, all of them impacting on public land. This is the first case in which a development brief will be drafted to regulate development on private land. maltatoday, Sunday, 3 May 2015 News Villa bonici owners to propose development brief Alfred Gera de Petri insists Villa Bonici's location in the middle of urban development gives his family the right to realise its monetary value