Sun deck area on steel platform proposed at Qawra foreshore

A sun deck area located on a steel platform is being proposed over 300 square metres of public foreshore near the Qawra Palace hotel’s lido.
Plans submitted also show a large pizzeria which is clearly visible from the promenade, and an ice cream parlour.

 The original application submitted for MEPA’s screening in 2014 envisaged a 542m2 platform for sundecks located on a steel platform at sea. The application has now been validated by MEPA after the project was amended.

An application to develop the same area of foreshore was rejected twice by MEPA back in 1997.

In 2008, MEPA rejected a similar application to demolish and rebuild the ice-cream parlour and the kiosk.

The two structures were only regularised by MEPA in 2001 after being developed without a permit. Other illegalities, which were subsequently regularised over the years, included a borehole, the construction of a concrete wall and ramp and the planters surrounding the site.
The permit to regularise the kiosk was issued only on condition that the roof of the kiosk serves as an extension of the public promenade.

The area is designated as a Tourism Zone, where only minor extensions of already existing structures is allowed. The local plan also stipulates that public access to the foreshore should not be compromised and that views to the bay should not be obstructed in any way.