NGO highlights ‘onslaught on heritage in the very heart of Sliema’

The ‘unbridled onslaught’ on Urban Conservation Areas in the very heart of Sliema is set to continue if a planning application for the demolition of a complete stretch of five row houses, part of the traditional streetscape of Depiro Street, goes through, heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa has said.

The proposal is for the wholesale demolition of five row houses, built in the early 20th century, along with their wooden doors and balconies, wrought iron fanlights and coloured glass windows, which are typical of Sliema’s architecture of that period, and their replacement by, effectively, a six-storey development of nondescript apartment blocks.

The heritage NGO has objected strongly to this shocking application which totally disregards planning policies for UCAs, and states it points to the absolute lack of appreciation for traditional architecture that continues to be lost to banal residential development. “There will soon be nothing to show of our vernacular town houses should this application be approved” said DLĦ. “Once these are lost, they will be lost forever.”

The application goes against several policies laid out within the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development and DC15, which aim to protect vernacular properties that characterise the historic fabric of Malta’s towns and villages and which are still in a good state of repair, the NGO says. These traditional row houses in Depiro Street are part of a stretch of undisturbed streetscape over 70 metres in length, with an architecturally consistent and continuous rhythm and with characteristic staircases that punctuate the ground floor plinth, as was typical of the period.

In its objection to this proposal, Din l-Art Ħelwa pointed out to the Planning Authority that it ought to abide strictly by these policies which are intended to encourage restoration and conservation of buildings in historic cores and settings, and to prevent their loss. Such policies, states the heritage NGO, are intended to avoid the wiping out of the aesthetic and architectural heritage of the streets, particularly within Urban Conservation Areas – and these policies ought to be upheld without exception.

It is indeed inconceivable, continued Din l-Art Ħelwa, that an application that directly contradicts the reasons why Urban Conservation Areas have been defined, should be approved.

“We are particularly concerned about the marked boldness with which such applications, directly and unashamedly contradicting the objectives of such policies, are being increasingly submitted to the Planning Authority for approval,” DLĦ said, stressing that if one such proposal slips through, would very shortly lead to the total oblivion of those characteristics that the country so badly needed to preserve.