Two houses between Strait Street and Old Bakery street Valletta have been built up to a height of eight storeys to house the judges and staff of the new Drugs Court. This eyesore which can be seen from a distance has provoked widespread outrage.
A planning authority spokesman was reported as saying: “Although Valletta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are no planning policies setting a height limitation for buildings there.” Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has long highlighted the fact that while development in every town and village of Malta and Gozo is controlled by MEPA’s height limitations, for some reason, this protection has been denied to the most important area, Valletta and Floriana. This has led to a extensive changes in Valletta’s supposedly-protected skyline, with the mushrooming of extra floors on many buildings and other unsightly additions which can be seen from across the harbour.
MEPA’s attempt to exuse this case on the grounds of lack of height limitations is outrageous since Malta’s Structure Plan acknowledges “Valletta’s special role and status” and states: “A number of views, both of and from Urban Conservation Areas, are fundamental to the character of Malta’s rich historical heritage. Similarly Malta’s traditional urban skyline…is to be protected”. Furthermore Policy UCO 10 states: “Developments will not be permitted which adversely affect views of or from Urban Conservation Areas, or which detract from the traditional urban skyline”. In the absence of specific height limitation policies Mepa’s DCC Boards should have been guided by its own Structure Plan. This would have prevented this new eyesore as well as several other excessively-high buildings which have been granted to certain parties, while others are not even allowed to change a garage door.
While commending the the Chamber of Architects’ concern that “If we continue as it is, Valletta could lose its Unesco heritage status,” FAA adds that the building does not conform to regulations both in height and in the creation of blank party walls where the use of brick, rather than traditional stone is incompatible with Valletta’s architectural context.
The granting of this permit throws into disrepute the very bodies that the citizen is expected to look up to in terms of upholding the law: MEPA, Government and the Judiciary. With such examples, it is not surprising that our Islands are riddled with building abuse.