Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar has welcomed the announcements that the application to build a hotel development in the garden of Careel House, a historic home built in 1862 in St Julians’ urban core, has been withdrawn after the home and garden were scheduled as a Grade 1 property.

FAA said it similarly appreciates the fact that the Planning Authority has issued an Emergency Conservation Order following Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH) archaeological investigations in Xaghra, Gozo, which uncovered human remains, prehistoric pottery intact pottery vessels and possibly a prehistoric cemetery dating to the ?ebbu? Phase, between approximately 4100 and 3800BC.

However, FAA also pointed to what it called the ”stark inconsistencies in the PA and SCH treatment of cases of great importance to Malta’s historic preservation.” While the prehistoric finds at Triq il-Gdida fi Pjazza Sant’Anton have been given emergency protection, ”much earlier remains near the Sta Verna prehistoric temple site in Xaghra have been bulldozed with the blessing of the Planning Authority and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.”

FAA stated that ”the Ta’ Lablab Neolithic burial pit found there, was of potential global, not national importance, as there is no other record of human remains buried in a line of seven skulls (mainly children), with some skulls positioned inside others.”

”The 2015 FRAGSUS excavations carried out by archaeologists Caroline Malone, Reuben Grima, Simon Stoddart and Nicholas Vella proved continuous settlement of this area throughout all of the Neolithic periods (5,400 – 2,400 BC), therefore c. 2,000 years before Ggantija and earlier than the Sant’Anton site now protected by emergency conservation status,” added FAA.

FAA stated that ”the SCH archaeological monitor had allowed the bulldozing of this burial pit, failing to report masses of Temple Period human bones until residents exposed them publicly. Similarly the monitor only documented the evidence of the Neolithic remains after FAA’s Press Release, and then actually requested backdating his report to two days before FAA’s release. Construction machinery continues to work on this site almost daily, with piles of rubble likely containing priceless traces of archaeology, dumped illegally, in violation of the Cultural Heritage Act.”

FAA also highlighted that ”the 23 radiocarbon dates from this Santa Verna area, constituting the largest number of radiocarbon dates retrieved from a Maltese temple, established the that this was the first onset of megalithic architecture on the Maltese Islands, making its destruction a national scandal.”

Similarly, FAA asked why the SCH and PA have ”failed to protect Villa Nolis, a St Julian’s Knight’s period house, therefore much older than Careel House?” This in spite of the fact that the SCH testified it is “is a building of evident historical and very high architectural value, defined even by its refined facade, with its forecourt and the covered portico leading to the front door. The proposal is excessive and a major redefinition of the building’s legibility. In particular, the construction of high volumes will engulf the covered portico and alter the main facade into an internal one overlooking a courtyard”

FAA argued that ”the conversion of Villa Nolis at B’kara Hill proposed in PA/02573/26 to a 19-room boutique hotel, including two additional floors plus a rooftop swimming pool, was found to be incompatible with the residential character of the area and the Urban Conservation Area in an earlier application, yet the PA Case Officer is recommending it for approval on the 9th of September.”

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar concluded by highlighting the fact that ”the Government Gazette, which documents all planning applications and outcomes, almost always fails to record Superintendence objections. Is this an effective way of hiding the fact that they are almost always ignored?”

It is not too late to save Villa Nolis, the UCA streetscape and residential character of the oldest intact street in St Julian’s. Flimkien g?al Ambjent A?jar urges the Superintendence and Planning Authority to act now, before more of Malta’s heritage is lost, one permit at a time.

Photo: FAA – Skulls and bones visible in Ta Verna burial pit

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