An application for a large mixed use complex, comprising of a hotel, shops, and residential units in Mellieha has raised concern for PN Whip Robert Cutajar.
The site is at, Triq Halq ic-Cawl c/w Triq L-Izbark tal-Francizi c/w Triq in-Nases c/w, Triq Il-Fortizza, Mellieha, Malta. The total site area is 3,680 square metres. The application processing was recently suspended at the request of the architect. The application reads: “Proposed construction of mixed use complex, comprising a hotel including amenities, retail shops, 120 no. residential units with underlying basements for vehicle garaging.”
A series of Parliamentary Questions were recently posed by PN MP Robert Cutajar on the proposed development. Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg, in response, said that the residential section building height will be 16.3m high from the highest part of the road, and 17.7m high from the lowest part of the road. The hotel, he said, will be 25.75m high from the highest part of the road.
Cutajar had asked specifically if there are plans for a social impact assessment and a traffic impact assessment to be conducted. Minister Borg said that he is informed that the land is located in a residential and a tourism locality and as such policies that regulate such zones applies. He said that the proposed development qualified for a traffic impact assessment, and that the study was analysed and concluded by the Planning Authority as well as the Transport Authority, the latter of whom gave their approval subject to a number of conditions. Regarding the social impact assessment, he said, the project does not qualify for such a study.
The plans show that an indoor pool is also proposed on the site, as is a spa and some shops.
Some objections by residents have been filed. One objection letter reads: “The proposed project is another monstrosity which will continue to cause havoc in what was once a quiet village. The project will cause extensive visual pollution which, in view of the high point, will be visible from far away. The construction phase will impose extensive hardship to the neighbouring houses, including noise and dust, which in view of the size of the project will take years. Upon completion, the traffic impact will be extensive. The area would benefit from a garden which would greet people when reaching Mellieha together with providing the local inhabitants with an additional recreational area.”
The local council has also filed an objection, arguing that the proposed development is too intensive and hence incompatible with the surrounding existing development, and that the proposal is not in line with planning policy. “In particular it is in conflict with Local Plan policy which does not permit the development of new hotels in residential areas. As a result, the proposal should be revised with the removal of the 104-bed hotel as well as the ancillary facilities (restaurant, spa, gymnasium and indoor pool) from the development proposal.”
Cutajar, speaking with The Malta Independent, said that up until 2013, when he was Mayor for the locality, the plans for the local council was that the land be developed for the common good, for the residents of the locality. He said that it was going to be a project for the local council to be developed into a centre which could be used by NGOs within the locality and could also have opened new tourism niches. He noted that while there are many hotels in Mellieha, few cater for conferences of a certain level, and he said that he wanted to attract such niches. Till halfway through 2013, he said, this land was used as a park and ride whenever the local council organised major events.
“I am angry, like the majority of Mellieha residents, that the local council let government take the land, without doing anything for the land to be fully or partly developed in the interest of the community and the residents.” Cutajar said that the council has today filed objections, but aired his disappointment at the land being taken for other uses in the first place.