Appeals planning board issues Villa Degorgio permit

A decision by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) to reject a permit for the internal demolition and redevelopment of Villa Degiorgio at the top of Dingli Street in Sliema has now been approved by a Board of Appeal appointed by the new Labour government in 2013.

This will pave the way for the construction of eight apartments over three storeys. The façade of the building will be retained but an overlying additional floor will result in a three-storey development on a street where all buildings are two floors high.

The site in fact lies in the middle of a unique untouched row of traditional two storey town houses. 

In 2011 the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) turned down an outline application for the demolition of Villa Degiorgio and the construction of a number of residential apartments with underlying garages in High Street, Sliema.

Although the façade of the existing building was to be retained, the board cited that the proposed development would compromise the visual integrity of the existing streetscape which is until today predominantly that of two floors. 

The MEPA board also pointed out that the proposed development would create an overdevelopment on the site and negatively impact one of Sliema’s ‘green lung’ open spaces, which are fundamental to the character of the Urban Conservation Area.

The appeals board concluded that the proposed height of the building is lower than foreseen in the local plan, which permits three floors and a penthouse level, ignoring MEPA’s original argument that the proposed height did not respect the context of the street.

In fact the local plan itself states that “additional floors” should not “detract from the architectural homogeneity” of the existing buildings. 

Residents have expressed concern that any decision to allow an extra floor on the Villa Degorgio site will commit the entire stretch of road to similar development. 

MEPA’s Heritage Advisory Committee had objected to the internal demolition of the villa and to the additional floor in an area where all houses do not rise above two storeys.

The permit was issued by MEPA’s Appeals Tribuna, composed of lawyer and Labour candidate Simon Micallef Stafrace, Freeport chairman and private architect Robert Sarsero and planner Martin Saliba.