Delimara hotel near pristine cove will increase built-up footprint

A proposed hotel in the Delimara area of il-Kalanka it-Tawwalija will have a significant visual impact and will change the character of a Delimara cove where it will be located “because the extent of the development will be larger than the structures already found on site in terms of height and area taken up by ancillary developments, including food and beverage and outdoor pool and decking area.”

This emerges from a screening report by the Environment and Resources Authority which has asked the developers to prepare an environment planning statement. The public has until 15 June to present its submissions on its terms of reference.

The screening report says the hotel would have significant environmental impacts on protected areas, given that the site in question is located in a highly sensitive environment.

The site covers an area of approximately 3,646 square metres that includes a building, landscaped areas and concrete terraces, the latter with an area of approximately 707 square metres. The building area within the current building footprint covers an area of approximately 343 square metres and the concrete terrace being one storey high, includes some abandoned rooms.

The built-up area would be increased from 343 square metres to 561 square metres, with the concrete terracing to the west of the building replaced with landscaping.

The site and its surroundings are highly sensitive in view of their natural, ecological and scenic qualities. In fact, the site is scheduled as an Area of High Landscape Value and as an Area of Ecological Importance.

Strategically, it forms part of the predominantly rural coast and is designated as an Area of High Landscape Protection in the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED).

The application seeks the redevelopment of the former ‘Delimara Bay Hotel’ into an “ecological boutique hotel” of 13 luxury suites, three ‘superior deluxe’, and one ‘presidential’ suite.

Proposed amenities will include a lounge, bar and restaurant, gym, spa and outdoor pool but also public beach facilities at il-Kalanka t-Tawwalija, including public toilets and showers, a first aid room, storage room and waste separation facilities.

The Delimara Bay Hotel was built in the 1950s, and later, due to demand, another wing and an additional storey were built. Eventually, the hotel was converted into a bar and restaurant, which remained open until 1985. The building has since been in a state of disuse and is currently in disrepair.

A project development statement presented in February notes that the main objective of the proposal is to develop an ‘eco-boutique’ hotel that will use “innovative and sustainable technologies as far as is feasible”.

The ERA’s screening report now concludes that the project will result in “physical changes to the site given the nature of the proposed development in and the relative impacts associated with over-development in a rural area, additional take-up of rural land, intensification of physical development in a sensitive environment and impacts on the bay and its coastal geomorphology.”

Kenneth Abela, the sole shareholder of Delimara Bay Hotel Ltd, filed the application last year. The company was registered under another name in May 2013 and had its name changed in February 2015.

In 2015, Abela told MaltaToday that he signed a promise-of-sale agreement for the derelict structure in June 2015, and signed the final contract to acquire the land on 15 August.

Kenneth Abela, who claims sole ownership for the land in question, is also a director in Aiken Ltd, which provided 30 billboards for Labour’s election campaign and subsequent ad campaigns for the government and the hunters’ referendum campaign.

One of Aiken’s beneficial owners is John Debono, Malta’s ambassador to Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Abela denied ever discussing this project with any government or Planning Authority official before presenting the application.

He strongly denied any connection between his services providing billboards to the Labour Party before the election, and plans for the new hotel. “The contract for the new hotel was only finalised in August 2015. How could there be any link between acquiring this land and another unrelated business activity?”