The Malta Planning and Environment Authority turned down an application for the construction of 10 apartments in Manwel Dimech Street in Sliema which would have obliterated a centenarian Norfolk Island pine tree.
The case officer had originally failed to take note of the pine tree in his original report, in which he recommended the demolition of an existing building in Manwel Dimech Street.
Following reports in MaltaToday that the case officer had missed the tree, the report was later updated to take the tree only to recommend its uprooting as the proposed development and the tree in question couldn’t reasonably co-exist.
But the MEPA’s DCC board was not convinced and the permit was turned down as it runs counter to Structure Plan policies protecting village cores.
The Norfolk Island pine, a species of tree originally imported from the eponymous Pacific island by the British in the 19th century, is protected by law due to its old age.