Naxxar council concerned by hotel development close to UCA

The Naxxar local council is concerned over an application seeking to develop a 46-room ‘boutique hotel’ in close proximity to the protected Urban Conservation Area. 

The hotel along Triq San Ġorġ is being proposed by Victor Chetcuti, who also owns the VC petrol station. The application involves the construction of a six-storey extension in the backyard of the existing building. The hotel will be stepped down from the current structure. The backyard includes seven citrus trees. 

The backyard, where most of the proposed new development is being proposed, lies outside the locality’s Urban Conservation Area. No additions are being proposed to the existing building fronting Triq San Ġorġ. 

The council’s concerns revolve around “the scale and intensity of the guesthouse, the loss of garden open space, and the implications for the character and visual integrity of the UCA.” 

The application, as submitted, foresees the excavation of the back garden to make way for the construction of a hotel with 40 bedrooms, three family rooms, and two suites. The development also includes an external pool area, a breakfast area, and a gym spread across two underground levels. 

Plans submitted with the application indicate that the new hotel structure will abut an even higher existing blank party wall of another development located outside the UCA.