Planning Commission set to approve construction of 1.8 metre wall around Kalanka hotel

The Environment and Resources Authority is objecting to the proposed erection of a 1.8 metre high wall around the derelict Kalanka hotel which is now being proposed for re-development but the PA has ordered the case officer who opposed the development  to submit conditions for approval.

The proposed wall exceeds the maximum height of 1.2 metres for rubble walls set by law
The proposed wall exceeds the maximum height of 1.2 metres for rubble walls set by law

The Environment and Resources Authority is objecting to the proposed erection of a 1.8 metre wall around the derelict Kalanka hotel which is now being proposed for re-development.  But although the case officer has clearly called for the the refusal of the application the Environment Planning Comission seems bent on approving the proposed wall.

In a meeting held on Wednesday the EPC chaired by architect Elizabeth Ellul argued that the proposal conforms to a section of the rural development policy approved in 2014 which permits owners to rebuild walls over and above the legal 1.2 meter limit whenever adjacent legally established wall exceed this statutory height. The EPC has now ordered the case officer to "submit conditions for approval". A final decision will be taken on 24 Febrary.  The EPC is legally obliged to postpone taking a decision whenever it intends to overturn a PA decision.

If constructed the wall would effectively block picturesque views of the coastline even if it gives pedestrians a right of way in parts of it. 

The wall is being proposed by Kenneth Abela, who bought the derelict hotel in August 2015 and is proposing the wall to “demarcate” his property from the adjacent rural path. Abela already owned 23,135 square metres of rural land in the vicinity of the proposed hotel.

The proposed wall exceeds the maximum height of 1.2 metres for rubble walls set by law.

The Environment and Resources Authority has objected to the proposed wall insisting that its height should be limited to 1.2 metres and should be integrated in the application for the construction of the new hotel.

The developer’s architect has argued that the proposed wall is of the same height as adjacent walls. 

But this claim was disputed by the PA case officer assessing the case, who argues that the only walls higher than the proposed wall are those on the opposite side of the road which had been constructed for soil retention purposes.

The case officer is calling on the PA to refuse the application, arguing that the proposal “will significantly obstruct the picturesque and panoramic views of the area.”

A year ago Abela had presented  application seeks the redevelopment of the former ‘Delimara Bay Hotel’ into an ‘ecological boutique hotel’ of 13 luxury suites, three ‘superior deluxe’, and one ‘presidential’ suite. 

Proposed amenities will include a lounge, bar and restaurant, gym, spa and outdoor pool but also public beach facilities at il-Kalanka t-Tawwalija, including public toilets and showers, a first aid room, storage room and waste separation facilities. 

Originally called the Delimara Bay Hotel, the facility was built in the 1950s, and later, due to demand, another wing and an additional storey were added. Eventually, the hotel was converted into a bar and restaurant, which remained open until 1985. The building has since been in a state of disuse and is currently in disrepair. 

A project development statement presented in February notes that the main objective of the proposal is to develop an ‘eco-boutique’ hotel that will use “innovative and sustainable technologies as far as is feasible”. 

The ERA’s screening report concludes that the project will result in “physical changes to the site given the nature of the proposed development and the relative impacts associated with over-development in a rural area, additional take-up of rural land, intensification of physical development in a sensitive environment and impacts on the bay and its coastal geomorphology.”

Kenneth Abela is a registered farmer and the sole shareholder of Delimara Bay Hotel Ltd. The company was registered under another name in May 2013 and had its name changed in February 2015.   Kenneth Abela,is also a director in Aiken Ltd which provides billboards. He has also acquired 23,135 square metres of rural land in the vicinity of the proposed hotel. Part of the land already belonged to Abela’s family since the early 1990s and was bought directly from Arken Limited, a company belonging to Kenneth Abela and his brother Aaron Abela, for €110,000. Another portion, a one-twelfth share of a larger 90,000 square metre property, was bought for €90,000 from the Moroni Testaferrata Viani estate.  Abela has also presented a planning application on a 10,500 sq.m. field (which forms part of the land he had acquired in 2014) to remove bird traps, reinstate the land for agricultural use, and convert an existing structure to an agricultural store and to pen the  Maltese black-chicken.  Abela claimed that he wants to remove illegalities on the land, blaming “squatters” on his land for trapping and hunting illegalities.

Plans for the proposed wall
Plans for the proposed wall