The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) has reversed a decision taken two years ago which allowed three-storey blocks in Lija’s historic centre.
From now on, no building will be allowed to exceed two floors from street level in Transfiguration Street which has now been designated as a “buffer zone” for the Lija tower, the Belvedere, a landmark at the entrance of the quaint town.
A permit issued for a three-storey apartment block however still stands, and is currently under appeal, but no more similar permits will be issued.
The decision was taken to conserve the character of the area, reversing a decision enacted in the Local Plan, approved by then environment minister George Pullicino in 2006, which had excluded the Belvedere from the village core, paving the way for a construction spree inside Lija’s main avenue.
Previously, construction had been limited to two-storey villas. But after 2006, even the part of Transfiguration Avenue included in the village core was designated for three-storey developments, plus semi-basements.
Then on the eve of the 2008 election, MEPA issued a permit for a new three-storey block and a penthouse to replace an existing two-storey semi-detached villa in Transfiguration Avenue: just 20 metres away from the Belvedere.
The Lija local council appealed against the permit, and is still being heard by MEPA’s appeal board.
It is not clear whether the scheduling will affect the already approved permit.
When asked whether MEPA’s latest decision will affect the already approved permit, a spokesperson for MEPA replied that “since the planning application is at Appeals stage it is not appropriate for MEPA to comment on this case.”
Yet MEPA’s latest u-turn will stop further high-rise development in Transfiguration Avenue.
Mayor Ian Castaldi Paris welcomed MEPA’s decision to stop development in the area around the tower. “This is a major victory for us. I urge other local councils to voice their opinion in the media when their localities are threatened by over development.”
For Castaldi Paris, MEPA’s new policy vindicates the council’s objection to the already approved permit which is now under appeal.
MEPA has also scheduled Lija’s Villa Gourgion and its surrounding gardens as a Grade 1 property protected from any development.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt