PA approves doubling in size of Mellieħa Bay Hotel

Hotel will be setback from coastline resulting in the rehabilitation of 4500sq.m of foreshore presently occupied by hotel structures, but will have a major negative visual impact

The development will see the hotel footprint double from 7,000 to 15,000 square metres, while the gross floor area will jump from 26,000 to 50,000sq.m
The development will see the hotel footprint double from 7,000 to 15,000 square metres, while the gross floor area will jump from 26,000 to 50,000sq.m

The Planning Authority board has approved the demolition and the 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 hotel which will be stepped back away from the coastline will increase its rooms from 313 to 359 and will have five restaurants, two bars and two pool bars, all spread across 11 interconnected blocks ranging from one to seven floors. 

The project was approved by 10 votes against one. Only NGO representative Romano Cassar voted against the application arguing that it is not fully in with the local plan policy which identifies the area around the hotel for “restrained development” through the “consolidation and upgrading of existing facilities “where only “restrained growth” is allowed.

Board chairman Emmanuel Camilleri endorsed the project while recommending better landscaping and an increase in parking spaces.

The project was recommended for approval by both the Planning Directorate and the Environment and Resources Authority. The Mellieħa local council also voted in favour of the development. No objectors attended the meeting to object to the development.

Project architect Edwin Mintoff insisted that the hotel which ceased operations in 2019, had to be demolished as it did not fulfil conditions and standards set by the Malta Tourism Authority.

Mintoff emphasised that the project will result in the rehabilitation of the coastline through the removal of hard landscaping from the coastline with the hotel building being stepped back from the coast.

He also referred to an ongoing dialogue with ERA and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage which resulted in a reduction in the number of rooms from the 421 proposed in an initial state.

Moreover, the project also involves the safeguarding of archaeological remains after studies on cultural heritage identified two unscheduled features of significant heritage within the site – the remains of a Knights-period battery, the Fedeau or Qassisu battery, previously believed to have been lost; and an unrecorded burial site.

Major visual impact

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. 

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. 

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.