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The Planning Authority has approved plans to demolish a Rabat townhouse and build a restaurant despite neighbours’ fears that the move would continue to push them out of their own community. The application, approved unanimously, will retain only the facadPA approves demolition of Rabat townhouse
The Planning Authority has approved plans to demolish a Rabat townhouse and build a restaurant despite neighbours’ fears that the move would continue to push them out of their own community. The application, approved unanimously, will retain only the facade of the existing building, part of a preserved row of houses in St Paul’s Street, close to the Ta’ Ġieżu church, while adding an extra floor to an overlying maisonette. The Planning Commission board requested a bank guarantee of €2,000 to ensure that two limestone staircases are removed, conserved and re-used in the new development, as well as additional noise mitigation measures. The approval came as a blow to residents who had complained that the stretch of road was already highly commercialised, and that the new restaurant would upset the already delicate balance between homes and businesses. “This particular application tips the balance against the residents should it be approved. Indeed, it will be sending out a message to the residents, that sooner or later they need to make space for commercial activity to take over the street entirely,” residents wrote in their objections to the PA. The Superintendence of Cultural... Read more