An application proposing the construction of a hotel, shops and 120 residential units which goes higher than the maximum allowable policy height is set to be debated by the Planning Authority Board this Thursday.

The proposal consists of two basement levels and ten levels (including ground floor) above ground.

The site consists of a vacant plot of land, having an area of approximately 3,680m² within and at the edge of the development zone in Mellieha. The site falls just off the roundabout leading vehicular traffic to either the Mellieha Centre (Triq il-Kbira) or to the Mellieha Bypass (Triq Louis Wettinger), the case officer’s report read.

The site has a frontage on four streets. The designs envisage a central courtyard surrounded by buildings.

“Considering the location of this particular rectangular site in the tourist locality of Mellieha, the context in the immediate vicinity and the main fact that it will be developed comprehensively, the proposed hotel with ancillary amenities, the retail outlets and residential units are acceptable from a planning and transportation points of view.” The main issue on the proposal is only related to the interpretation of the height on the longest facades on Triq Halq ic-Cawl and Triq in-Nasses, the case officer’s report read.

“The height of the proposed building fronting Triq Halq ic-Cawl and Triq in-Nasses, exceeds the maximum local plan height limitation and the corresponding height in metres, and therefore runs counter to policy which requires the building to be stepped down to reflect the profile of the existing topography.”

The local council has 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.”

PN MP Robert Cutajar previously spoke out on this application, and told The Malta Independent that up until 2013 when he was Mayor for the locality, the plan for the local council was that this 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 noted that the council has filed objections, but aired his disappointment at the land being taken for other uses in the first place.