125-room hotel proposed on Hunters Tower site in Marsaxlokk

Hotel application refers to draft development brief issued in 2014 which paves way for hotel owned by former Labour MP

The 125-room hotel would replace the well-patronised restaurant
The 125-room hotel would replace the well-patronised restaurant

A 125-room hotel is being proposed on the site of the Hunters Tower restaurant in Marsaxlokk by D&B Catering Limited, a company owned by Jon-Jon Dalli and former Labour MP John Dalli.

The hotel would replace the well-patronised restaurant, which is actually located outside development zones and in an area identified for hotel development in a draft development brief that was issued in 2014.

The developers want to replace the restaurant with a hotel on the ground and two overlying storeys, and 40-space underground car park. An outside pool and bar area will occupy 824 square metres.

The Marsaxlokk Inner Harbour Area development brief was issued for public consultation in December 2014. The government instructed the PA to come up with a plan to facilitate hotel development in this area in September 2013, barely six months after being elected to power.

The brief, which has not yet been approved, says that the Planning Authority would “favourably” consider tourism-related uses, including “tourism accommodation” in the Hunters Tower area, but insists proposals should not exceed the current two-storey height limitation.

Any hotel proposal would have to include a visitor and interpretation centre to cater for the saline marshland, considered as a special area of conservation. The brief proposes a buffer zone between Hunters Tower and the marshland. “An adequate, soft landscaped buffer between this zone and the saline marshland is appropriate to ensure that visual impacts, noise and light emissions, together with an increased influx of people and cars emanating from the development in this zone do not result in a detriment to the ecology of the marshland area.”

The PA is proposing that any hotel development be subjected to “an appropriate assessment”, while the Marsaxlokk local plan identifies the area known as il-Maghluq as an “opportunity area” for mixed development that includes restaurants, fishing-related activities and open spaces.

Back in 1998, Dalli applied to demolish the Hunters Tower restaurant and construct a 93-room, three-storey hotel. The application was later downscaled to 59 rooms and included landscaping works and a swimming pool.

The development was refused because it infringed upon the existing Marsaxlokk Bay Local Plan, which states that the area is identified “for limited tourism-related ancillary facilities such as restaurants” – not hotels.

Dalli’s planning application also infringed Local Plan Policy MM14, which states that “development which materially and adversely affects the ecological interests of the area... will be refused”. This particular policy aims to protect the salt marsh area known as Il-Ballut.

The development was also refused because of the absence of the “development brief” envisaged in the local plan, which was never drafted under the previous administration. But the same local plan limits any development in the area to cafe and restaurant facilities. 

In the appeal to MEPA’s decision, architect Edwin Mintoff argued that the proposed hotel was a small one, “characterised by the smallest footprint possible to ascertain a feasible and viable hotel”.

He also argued that “it is not in the interest of my client to adversely affect the ecology of the area” and that his client was willing to conduct an environment impact assessment. 

Another point raised in the appeal was that the structure plan itself foresees the development of tourism accommodation in Marsaxlokk and insists that the local plan cannot overrule the structure plan. 

In its response, the Planning Directorate argued that the traffic generated by the development would impact the adjacent salt marsh. It also pointed out that the proposal conflicts with the local plan height limitation of two floors. 

A tribunal chaired by Dr Kevin Aquilina in October 2000 turned down the appeal and upheld MEPA’s decision to refuse the hotel development.