A proposal to reconstruct an abandoned hotel located outside the development zone in Mellieħa, close to the Red Tower, has been recommended for refusal.

Developers Mizzi Estates had filed an application to demolish and reconstruct the abandoned Festaval Hotel in 2022.

The site, covering an area of circa 9,600 SQM, is located Outside the Development Zone boundaries. Access to the site is through Triq Tad-Dahar off Triq il-Marfa within the limits of Mellieħa. The site is currently in a dilapidated state.

The case officer's report notes that the site is within an Area of Ecological importance and a Natura 2000 site protected under both birds and habitats directives, and it is also partly within the buffer zone for the protection of several scheduled World War II defence posts. Furthermore, the site is within the immediate vicinity of St. Agatha's Tower (the Red tower), it says.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, in a document filed over this application, advocated for the existing structures to be demolished, and for the "opportunity [to] be taken to rehabilitate this side of a prominent ridge, within a significant landscape, forming part of the immediate context of the Grade 1 scheduled St. Agatha's Tower that is surmounting the said ridge."

The case officer noted that the abandoned Festaval hotel ended up in a dangerous state with the passage of time.

The building was designed by Richard England in the late 1970s, the case officer's report reads.

"The original structure consisted of a relatively low number of units (approx. 30) terraced into the hillside and nestled into the surrounding nature. The structure, since its early years, was abandoned due to structural problems and has now become a destination for alternative tourists that seek modernist constructions taken over by nature."

While assessing the proposal, the Development Management Directorate took into consideration the commitment necessary "and the fact that no new land take-up is being proposed in the current application," the report read.

Notwithstanding this, the Applicant/Perit failed to submit requested information within the established time-frames and therefore, the application could not be assessed completely and in a holistic manner to establish the principle of the proposed development, the case officer's report went on to say. It also took note that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage did not consider the reconstruction of the hotel favourably.

Request for information letters were sent and a number of meetings were held to discuss a way forward in relation to the application, the report notes. "Following the expiry of the 2year maximum allowable suspension period and an additional reasonable time, the Directorate is referring the application for a decision with the available information."

The case officer recommended that the application be refused, on the grounds that the applicant failed to provide a Traffic Scoping Statement, a Tourism Compliance Certificate by the Malta Tourism Authority, and conclusions / recommendations from the Environment and Resources Authority within the stipulated timeframes.

"Thus, the proposal lacks the necessary information to enable complete assessment in terms of transport, land use and environmental impacts which are an integral part in determining the principle being assessed in this outline development application."

Perit Carmel Cacopardo filed a submission on behalf of the Mellieħa local council. The council had objected to the application early on, and in its latest submission it said that while the case officer's report is correct in its conclusions, it "should have also considered issues of policy on the basis of which the application submitted is also unacceptable on a point of principle." Here, Cacopardo mentioned that the site is ecologically sensitive and is protected. He wrote that the proposed development runs counter to Thematic Objectives within the SPED, and also said that an enforcement notice on the site is still pending. He noted that these do not feature as reasons justifying the refusal of the application in the case officer's report, and said that the reasons for refusal should be updated to also reflect those points.