Last October, the residents of Birgu had a significant victory when a development that would have obstructed vistas from the belvedere of Birgu was revoked by the Planning Board.

Earlier in June, residents were disconcerted when construction works began on a townhouse in the vicinity of the belvedere. Residents hurried to find out what the works included. Much to their dismay, it transpired that a development application for the construction of two additional floors and a stairwell, over and above the existing two-storey property, had been approved back in April 2017.

The corner townhouse in question has frontage on two streets, facing the belvedere on Triq Santa Skolastika and the Grand Harbour towards Kalkara on Triq E. Attard Bezzina. The belvedere is on higher grounds. At present the roof of this townhouse sits just below the viewing platform, allowing unobstructed views across the Grand Harbour from the belvedere. However, with the construction of two additional floors above the townhouse, all this would change, as the new development would permanently obliterate views towards Bighi and Kalkara.

All construction work must be covered by a development permit attained from the Planning Authority. Throughout the processing of a development permit, a site notice is affixed on the property where works are being requested. The purpose of the site notice is to inform the public about the proposed works, who in turn are given a stipulated period (usually lasting around six weeks) within which to submit their concerns, reservations, or objections. The residents living in the environs of the belvedere maintained under oath, that they’d never seen a site notice on the townhouse and therefore, were never in a position to formally object to the proposed works whilst the application was still being decided.  

On learning about the works in June 2019, by which time the development had already been approved, the residents had no other choice but to ask the Planning Authority to revoke the permit.

A planning permit can only be revoked under certain justified circumstances. These include cases of fraud, instances where approved applications rest on incorrect declarations or information, or cases where there is concern for public safety.

Following a detailed analysis of the processing of the permit, it transpired that the application had in fact been handled inadequately and subsequently approved with flawed information.

Most pertinently, the site plan related to the application – a document that is undisputedly one of the most material to any case – was repeatedly presented with a substantial part of the site omitted. The part of the site which was left out was that which was closest to the historic bastion walls where excavation works were being proposed.

It had also come to light that during the representation period (at which point residents could have formally objected to the application) some of the drawings meant to illustrate the extent of the proposal were incorrect. A streetscape elevation is one of the most essential tools available to a layman to help understand the extent of a proposal. In this case, the streetscape elevation was drawn with only one additional floor, instead of the proposed two floors and stairwell. Such a grievous error meant that had the residents’ been aware of the application whilst it was being processed, the information available to them at the point at which they could have acted, was still misleading.

It had also become known through photographic evidence that a site notice had been affixed on the façade of the property on Triq Santa Skolastika but (as maintained by residents) must have been removed that very same evening since it was never seen. Also, no site notice was ever affixed on the property’s façade on Triq E. Attard Bezzina since the address provided failed to also include that street despite the property having direct access from it.

Given all the inadequacies during the processing of the application, and the fact that the permit was issued with incorrect information, the Planning Board agreed that the request was justified and so revoked the permit.  

The owners of this site can still reapply for the works they originally requested through this revoked permit.  However, at least for the time being, thanks to the vigilance and persistence of the residents, the vistas from the belvedere will remain unobstructed for the people of Birgu, and visitors alike, to appreciate.

Tara Cassar is an architect focusing on planning policies and environmental issues related to land-use, active with a number of local eNGOs.

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