Triq Għajn Dwieli next to be ruined by five-storey epidemic

Triq Għajn Dwieli, the road connecting Paola and Cottonera, is characterised by a row of uniformly designed and elegant town houses.  

But this is set to change due to the precedent created in December 2019, when the Planning Authority approved an apartment block consisting of four floors and a setback floor consisting of ten dwellings 10 dwellings instead of an elegant townhouse overlooking the street.

As approved, the development which is under construction, will still retain the existing facade but the impact on the streetscape will be nothing short of dramatic as it was only logical that neighbouring properties would follow suite.

The development plans

In fact, the development proposed by Robert Meli had been recommended for refusal by the case officer as the development would entail the demolition “a row of houses with identical features of architectural value, which include designed corbels and apertures’ frames, and also a shared cornice”.

The case officer had also warned that the development will impact on the architectural value of the existing streetscape, which is largely intact. 

“The proposal, which is objected to by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, will result in the loss of historical fabric” and was deemed to be in breach of then objectives of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development which seeks to safeguard the cultural heritage.

But the Planning Commission, chaired by Simon Saliba, overturned the case officer’s recommendation after new plans were submitted plans which retained the existing facade on Triq Għajn Dwieli up to upper cornice.

Three years later, a new application has been submitted on a neighbouring townhouse by the same applicant to create 10 more dwellings and retaining the façade of the exiting one storey townhouse.  

But if approved the development will still create a blank party wall on the neighbouring townhouse, thus paving the way for more similar developments in the future.

The Għajn Dwieli permit is expected to generate more controversy in the locality whose council is now calling for the revocation of another permit to transform a townhouse overlooking Triq Bormla into a 17-apartment block. 

As approved, the development entails the construction of a setback floor on Triq Bormla and five floors on Triq il-Qalb ta’ Gesu which is approximately one floor lower.