Extension of Mellieha Bay Hotel foreseen in latest plans

Plans have been presented foreseeing an extension on the two wings of the Mellieha Bay Hotel. 

The western wing expansion set on five floors in line with the rest of the hotel is proposed between the rocky shoreline and a parking area previously used by caravans. 

A smaller eastern expansion also set on five floors is being proposed on hotel grounds facing the hotel pool, just outside the scheduled garigue area.

The planning application, which also foresees the development of 47 bungalows behind the hotel, was presented in 2007. The latest plans presented last week are limited to the hotel extension and do not impinge on the scheduled zone.

The Mellieha Bay Hotel, which is partly owned by Mizzi Associated Enterprises Ltd, had presented an application to develop 98 new units, including 47 bungalows, on the pristine area surrounding the hotel in 2007.

The Natural Heritage Advisory Committee had objected to the development, noting that part of the site is scheduled as an area of ecological importance.

Plans for the proposed bungalows were presented in October and December 2007 but plans for the hotel extension were first presented in March and April 2012. No plans were submitted in the next two years.

The 165,246 square metres of land surrounding the Mellieha Bay Hotel is leased to a company owned by business magnate Albert Mizzi, which pays an annual ground rent of  €349.41.

The site was granted for a temporary emphyteusis of 150 years in 1963 at that yearly ground rent “for the development of a tourist resort hotel”.

The land was handed over to the private developer after a request by the then Malta Government Tourist Board, which had approved financial and fiscal assistance to the company in conjunction with the development of a self-contained resort hotel.

In December last year the owner of the Costa del Sol restaurant also presented an application proposing a brand new seven-storey hotel on the site of an existing car park on the northwestern shore of Ghadira beach.

The application, presented by Anthony Curmi in December, foresees the demolition of the existing Costa del Sol restaurant and the construction of a hotel, beach bar, an underground car park and new residential units.  The application has not yet been validated by MEPA.

In 2010 MEPA had approved an extension of the Seabank Hotel. MEPA is still considering an application for an extension of the Mellieha Holday village and an application by the same complex for a beach concession on the rocky foreshore between the two main beaches.