20/05/2026
Plans to replace 19th century Rabat farmhouse with apartment block withdrawn
A highly-controversial application to demolish a 19th century farmhouse on Buskett Road, Rabat and replace it with a 5-storey apartment block has been withdrawn after the assigned case officer recommended the refusal of a permit.
Planning application PA/2441/25, submitted by Michael Bugeja using plans by architect Anthony Robinson, foresaw replacing the old home and its grounds with 83 garages at basement level, 49 apartments and a shop. Bugeja declared himself as the owner of the property in his application.
The property, once located within a rural area a short distance away from the historic Dominican priory, has now been surrounded by development and lies within the development zone: it was left just outside Rabat’s Urban Conservation Area. It now lies just next to another religious building: the St Joseph Retreat House run by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition.
1920 survey sheets for the area overlain on present-day satellite imagery. showing how the property targeted by PA/2441/25 was once within a rural area. The area covered by PA/2441/25 is outlined in red, abutting the St Joseph Retreat House on the north and west. Image: Public Works Department – Policy Research Directorate.
Accordingly, the Archdiocese of Malta had objected to the plans on the sisters’ behalf, arguing that the plans represented a significant threat to the spiritual, structural, visual and communal integrity of the retreat house and convent.
The archdiocese was far from alone in objecting, with the application attracting close to 1,000 objections, including objections by many environmental NGOs.
Just over a year ago on 17 May, 2025, Rabat residents – including a number of Sisters of St Joseph – and NGOs gathered on site to protest against plans to replace an old building with a “monstrosity.”
Rabat residents rally against ‘monstrous’ development at Buskett
Further controversy emerged after the developers obliterated the property’s garden late last year, reportedly under the supervision of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and with the blessing of the Environment and Resources Authority. 36 trees – of which 29 were protected species – were unceremoniously removed.
Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar coordinator Astrid Vella joined 95 other individuals, including 21 Sisters of St Joseph, in filing a judicial protest, holding the developer, SCH and ERA responsible for the destruction.
Judicial protest filed over Rabat farmhouse garden’s destruction
SCH confirms archaeological findings, objects to demolition
The intervention appears to have been carried out as part of an archaeological evaluation of the site, which lies in an Area of Archaeological Importance, and last April, the SCH confirmed that while this evaluation was partial given that limited excavation took place, it still identified various archaeological features, namely:
One tomb, which was investigated and found to have been rifled in the past
Up to four additional potential tombs, which are yet to be investigated
One shallow quarry, partially exposed
Substantial trenching along two of the site’s perimeter walls, the nature and function of which have yet to be determined
The discovery already made the plans to obliterate the farmhouse and its grounds unworkable, in the SCH’s view, but the superintendence also stressed that the total demolition of the old vernacular building was unacceptable given its architectural and cultural heritage value. It also insisted that the massing and scale of development proposed was inappropriate given the site’s sensitive location.
The case officer’s report arrived at the end of April, and it is this that appears to have put the final nail in the coffin. It cited no less than 8 reasons to refuse a permit, which included but went beyond the objections of the SCH.
The adverse impact on archaeological remains
The unacceptable demolition of a vernacular building of heritage value, in light of policies favouring the conservation and reuse of such buildings
Proposed height and volumes were deemed contrary to the SPED, whose urban objectives include improving the townscape, safeguarding urban character and establishing appropriate building heights and development densities.
The developed was deemed detrimental to the ajacent Urban Conservation Area
The plans ran counter to policy which specifies that the depth of the built footprint shall not be more than 30m from the official building alignment
The project foresaw the use of façade setbacks at ground floor level which were only permitted within local centres, villa and bungalow areas, and commercial areas. The facade also failed to respect the established streetscape and surrounding context
The proposal lacked the endorsement of Transport Malta, and was deemed to have failed to ensure safe and adequate vehicular access
The proposal did not comply with the provisions of the Development Planning (Health and Sanitary) Regulations, 2016.
These objections made clear that the issue went beyond anything that could be addressed with a modification of the existing plan, effectively ensuring that the planning process could only conclude with one outcome: the refusal of a permit.
In this context, the developer effectively chose not to delay the inevitable: such withdrawals are not unusual in such circumstances.
A highly-controversial application to demolish a 19th century farmhouse on Buskett Road, Rabat and replace it with a 5-storey apartment block has been withdrawn after the assigned case officer recommended the refusal of a permit.
