PA refuses five-storey ‘precedent’ on Ħamrun main street

An application to construct a five-storey block consisting of four one-bedroom apartments has been refused by the Planning Authority after the case officer concluded that approval would have been in breach of policies protecting streetscapes from pencil developments.

The application was refused on Tuesday by the Planning Commission chaired by Stephania Baldacchino.

Had it been approved, the application would have set a precedent for the complete transformation of Hamrun’s main road, which is still mostly characterised by a uniform streetscape of two and three-storey buildings.

The existing two-storey building shares a decorative ‘opramorta’ and a frontispiece with the remaining part of the building, which is not included in the application. This building is also located within a row of houses having similar architectural features.

The plans envisaged the restoration of the existing façade on the first two storeys, including an improved shopfront design, and three overlying levels, one of which is receded by 4.25m.

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage welcomed the proposed works to restore the traditional façade but warned that the vertical extension of only part of this building would result in a development that does not fit well with the overall surrounding streetscape.

The Superintendence also warned that the proposed height would set an undesired precedent for further vertical development along this legible streetscape. It recommended that the height of the building should not exceed that of the three-storey building on the left of the property.

Moreover, according to the Planning Authority’s case officer, the creation of blank walls and the lack of continuity in the design of the proposed development would not positively contribute to the improvement of the quality of the streetscape.

Another reason cited by the case officer for refusing the permit was that the proposed development would exceed existing height limits.

The maximum height allowed in the local plan is three floors and a basement, which translates to a height of 16.3m. As proposed, the development would be 17.83m with a street facade height of 14.43m. The architect justified this deviation by referring to a similar permit issued in Sliema.

But this is not the only development threatening the uniformity of Ħamrun’s main road, as the PA had already set a precedent in 2020 by approving a five-storey development further down the road in the direction of Blata l-Bajda.

The development, approved three years ago, is of three new floors, of which two are recessed. The approval was granted despite strong objections by the Ħamrun local council, which warned of the dangerous precedent within the locality and specifically within the street itself. In fact, the latest application is proposing a building of the same height as the one approved in 2020.

The Superintendence then had also described the proposed height as excessive and one that disrupted the existing predominant rhythm and proportions of the streetscape. On that occasion, the Superintendence made it clear that it would consider acceptable only the addition of one floor above the existing protruding cornice.