Marsaxlokk hotel gets green light amid policy twists

A proposed 39-room three-star hotel in Marsaxlokk has been approved by the Planning Authority, despite clear conflicts with the area’s residential zoning and the applicable height limitations.

The development was recommended for approval by the Development and Management directorate on the basis of a policy aimed at regenerating buildings.

The outline application concerns three Grade 2 scheduled properties in Triq iz-Zejtun dating back to the nineteenth century. The properties are located within the Marsaxlokk Urban Conservation Area and just 33 metres from the Our Lady of Pompeii parish church, in an area designated for terraced residential development under the Marsaxlokk Bay Local Plan.

The proposal includes a change of use from residential to a Class 3B hotel, internal alterations, demolition of rear structures, excavation works and the construction of additional volumes, including a basement and two setback floors.

Plans submitted by landowner Vincent Curmi do not envisage major changes to the nineteenth-century façades of the three adjoining properties. However, the plans foresee the addition of a setback floor above the main façade height and another setback floor located further to the rear and right of the site. The development also proposes an extensive pool and decking area, as well as an extension of the building into its historic garden.

Under the local plan, hotel development is generally directed away from residential areas and towards designated zones. The site is also subject to a two-storey height limitation and is characterised by traditional buildings with substantial private rear gardens. Nonetheless, the directorate concludes that the project is acceptable, repeatedly invoking higher-level strategic policies to override these restrictions.

To justify the change of use, the assessment relies on regeneration and consolidation provisions within the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development, arguing that the scheduled status of the buildings permits the introduction of compatible uses to secure their long-term upkeep. This interpretation is used to disapply local plan policies that would normally preclude hotel development within a residential area.

The same approach is applied to height limitations. Although the report acknowledges that the surrounding streetscape is predominantly two storeys high, it argues that SPED policies promoting a contextual approach to building height supersede fixed local caps. On this basis, increased façade height and two setback floors are deemed acceptable due to sloping street levels, volumetric stepping, partial siting outside the Urban Conservation Area boundary and the claimed screening of blank party walls.

Substantial development is also proposed within the extensive rear garden, historically an integral component of the properties’ character. Earlier objections by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage focus on the intensity of rear volumes and the loss of garden space. While revisions reduce the scale of intervention, the garden is not preserved in full and accommodates new built volumes and hotel amenities, including external common areas, a large pool with a decking area and three smaller pools.

The directorate downplays the impact by classifying the space as a private garden rather than a wider green enclave, concluding that partial retention is sufficient to satisfy SPED policies.

The proposal further includes excavation works to create a basement level. Given the historic nature of the site, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage initially raises concerns over the potential presence of underground cisterns, wells and other archaeological features. Although acknowledging that unrecorded features may exist, the directorate considers the excavation acceptable, citing the submission of a Works Method Statement and a Restoration Method Statement, both approved subject to conditions and bank guarantees. Archaeological monitoring is presented as sufficient mitigation, allowing excavation to proceed in line with SPED objectives on safeguarding buried heritage.

Despite the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage continuing to describe the overall development as substantial and encouraging further moderation of volumes, it ultimately raises no objection following revised drawings, photomontages and documentation. A submitted volumetric study and photomontages are cited to conclude that the upper floors are not visible from the Grade 1 scheduled parish church. On this basis, the directorate argues that the proposal does not adversely affect key vistas, skylines or the visual integrity of the church’s historic setting.

The key visual study is not available on the Planning Authority’s public information system on Monday, despite a decision being due on Thursday.