An outline permit application proposing the development of a 4-star hotel over Villa Leoni, a building with a grade 2 scheduled facade, is set to be decided upon this Thursday by the Planning Authority Board.
Villa Leoni is situated on Main Street, St Julian’s.
The outline development permission Proposal “entails the restoration and internal alterations of existing villa together with construction of additional volume above it. The proposal also includes the construction of new structure overlooking Telghet Birkirkara, and part of the site is being proposal for excavation to include two floors of Parking.” An outline development permission application seeks to gain approval in principle to the proposed development, but specifies reserved matters which need to be included in a full development permit application.
The site currently comprises of a two-storey and a receded floor pre-1968 building and garden. It is located within the Urban Conservation Area of St. Julian’s, having two frontages. The building faces Triq Il-Kbira, while the garden’s boundary wall has a frontage on Telghet Birkirkara. The facade of Villa Leoni is scheduled.
The proposal would see seven floors in total (with the 7th being a bar and pool) on the side facing Telghet Birkirkara, and six floors (with the sixth being listed as for services, and not taking into account a mezzanine floor) on the side facing Triq il-Kbira.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage stated, when providing official feedback, that the house and the garden have historical and architectural value, and the entire property (including the garden) is scheduled to ensure its protection. “Second World War shelters are also recorded in the vicinity of the property...The application proposes extensive and impactful internal alterations with a considerable increase in overall height by four more storeys. The development proposes the total demolition of the existing garden (eradicating all legibility of the space), with extensive excavation over most of the site and a massive intensification of development.”
The Superintendence and the Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee expressed their reservations on the proposed treatment of the façade on Triq il-Kbira, and the Superintendence notes that the approved façade on Telghet Birkirkara is greatly preferable to the current proposal. The Superintendence finds the proposed development to be incompatible with the cultural heritage value of the property and objects to this application.”
The case officer, in his report, notes that there was a discrepancy in the scheduling, “between what was officially scheduled in 1994 and what has been plotted on the Planning Authority’s own GeoServer. The scheduling indicated in the Government Gazette is just the facade, whilst the GeoServer plotting indicates the whole site. The provisions of the Government Gazette prevail.”
The case officer took note that the proposed interventions on the facade of the building are not endorsed by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. “In this regard, the proposed interventions would therefore detract from the historical and cultural heritage value of this facade and runs counter to the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), which seeks to safeguard the cultural heritage by controlling activities which might have an impact on buildings, structures and sites.”
The officer notes in his report that the building height assessment is subdivided into two, being that the site is facing Telghet Birkirkara and Triq Il-Kbira respectively. The officer notes that the proposed development exceeds the commitments on either side of the building, and that it is not in compliance with the objectives of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), in terms of building height, design considerations and visual implications.
The officer also noted that “the proposed development will have long-distance implications, in that the existing townscape configuration and the impact of development on the skyline are not taken in consideration. The proposed development will exceed the existing building commitments, even those covered by permits. The proposed building will generate blank party walls.”
Transport Malta also objected to this proposal due to the poor accessibility of the site.
A number of objections were filed by residents, NGOs and the St Julian’s local council objected to the application.
The case officer recommended that the proposal be refused.