Graffitti, Din l-Art Ħelwa join Australia Hall objectors

Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa and Moviment Graffitti are objecting to a zoning application presented by the Fino Group proposing three “mixed use” blocks of five and six floors, on the 3,870sq.m area that envelopes the historical Australia Hall in Pembroke.

In planning jargon, mixed-use development normally includes a combination of residential, office and retail development.

The latest plans foresee development over some 12,000sq.m in total floor area, that is, the entire floor area of the three massive blocks and the restoration of Australia Hall itself. Some 2,400sq.m of the total 6,331sq.m site will be retained as open public space.

Din l-Art Helwa said it was seriously concerned about the impact of the proposed development around Australia Hall in Pembroke due to its impact on the  urban landscape. “The jarring blocks will spoil vistas from this historical property, alienating the historical property from its cultural landscape.”

According to the heritage NGO the imposing volumes of the new development will overwhelm the existing structure. The NGO also lamented that the visual provided, consisting of just line drawings, was insufficient to grasp the overall impact of committing the surrounding sites to such an extensive proposal.

Moviment Graffitti warned that the approval of this application will see “the degradation of a cultural and historical area, as well as the urban landscape surrounding it”.

Moreoever it will diminish the Grade 2 scheduled building’s status and become a “grave eyesore, while also setting a dangerous precedent for future similar applications” in  other historical areas. Graffitti refered to the SPED policy, stating that development within historic sites is to be carried out in such a manner so as to ensure that the historic sites’ skyline is not adversely affected.

Graffitti is also calling on the PA to ensure that the application is processed according to a planning circular issued in 2020 regulating developments next to listed buildings. In this way the developers will have to present photomontages of the development at the zoning stage, which would set the height and use of the proposed buildings before a full planning application is presented. This would avoid a situation where the PA ends up zoning the area on the basis of line drawings, and only demand photomontages when a planning application is presented, after the PA had already committed itself for developing the area.

Pembroke mayor Dean Hili has also written to the PA saying “the prominence of Australia Hall as a historical building should be preserved through the creation of a buffer zone to ensure that the building is not suffocated and surrounded by buildings which are even higher than Australia Hall”.