PA to decide on application to double size of Mellieha Bay Hotel

The Planning Authority board will be meeting Thursday to decide on the proposed redevelopment of the Mellieħa Bay Hotel, whose footprint is set to  double from 7,000 to 15,000 square metres, while the gross floor area will jump from 26,000 to 50,000sq.m.

The project is being recommended for approval by the Planning Directorate.

An Environmental Impact Assessment had concluded that the project will result in “major adverse impacts” from five different viewpoints, as well as from l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa and Torri l-Aħmar. The project will also result in the extraction of over 122,000 cubic metres of excavation material.

Following the EIA, the developers reduced the footprint of the project by 4,000sq.m, but the latest photomontages are only marginally different from the original when the EIA was conducted.

Despite the negative visual impact, the project has already been endorsed by the Environment and Resources Authority, which welcomed the restoration of 4,500sq.m presently occupied by hotel structures, to its original state, and the shifting of the development away from the coast.

The hotel will increase beds from 313 to 359, with five restaurants, two bars and two pool bars, all spread across 11 interconnected blocks ranging from one to seven storeys.

But the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage argued that the proposal exceeds the existing development in terms of volume, resulting in an increased negative impact on the surrounding landscape in comparison to the existing hotel.

The PA’s own Design Advisory Committee (DAC) also expressed concern about the increase in height and the extent of the proposed hotel vis-à-vis the existing building, which has “a considerable impact on its surroundings” and “on the disparity caused by the different styles and materials being proposed”.

While acknowledging the conclusions of the EIA and the replies by the SCH and DAC, on the impact on the landscape character of the area the case officer justified the favourable recommendation on a number of other considerations.

One of these considerations is that the proposal seeks the upgrade of an existing pre-1968 hotel to the modern standards to conform with guidelines set by the Malta Tourism Authority. Moreover, the development is being proposed on an area designated for restrained development in the local plan and on land already committed by previous permits and on already disturbed land. The new scheme will reduce the gross floor area lying outside the Area for Retrained Redevelopment; and will restore 4,488sq.m on the foreshore and an area on the north of the site, which is scheduled as Level 3 Area of Ecological Importance.