MEPA board approves conversion of Palazzo Zammittello into boutique hotel

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority board has granted planning permission for Palazzo Zammittello to be converted into a boutique hotel.

The Palazzo, centrally located in Valletta, between Triq Ir-Repubblika and Triq Nofs In-Nhar, will undergo major restoration works and will also include considerable internal alterations and an extension of the unfinished third floor.

Faced with the option of either approving the full extension of the third floor or a receded floor, as requested by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, the Board approved the full extension citing that aesthetically, the full extension closed off the building more neatly.   

The board threw out a request for seven swimming pools with decking and soft landscaping proposed to be developed on agricultural land in a pristine ODZ area of Sannat, over an area of approximately 1,700m2. The applicant now has planning permission which restricted the project for 25 apartments to within the development boundaries.

The Board was discussing in public, a development application on a site area of approximately 3,422m², half of which was outside the development boundaries and which site is accessible from two alleys off Triq il-Kbira in Sannat, Gozo. The approved development is within a residential zone area and faces the Sannat Urban Conservation Area.

The Board cited that although the 2014 Rural and Design Policy permitted swimming pools outside the development boundaries, this should only be restricted to land that is already disturbed or land already covered by a planning permit. The Board expressed its disapproval that swimming pools and soft landscaping should become an ‘automatic’ concession in ODZ.