Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1007543
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 JULY 2018 JAMES DEBONO PLANS for a 12-storey hotel proposed instead of the Seav- iew hotel in St Paul's Bay still envisage a beach concession in- cluding 52 deckchairs set on 26 separate concrete platforms on the coastline. PA has already issued a permit for the demolition of the three- storey Seaview Hotel along the Bugibba coast, opposite the wa- terpark. The application originally made reference to the proposed beach concession but this was deleted from the description of the proposal in a letter submit- ted in April. ERA had objected to this in- sisting that "the laying of sun- beds on the coastal area is un- acceptable in principle from an environmental point of view." On 25 May ERA informed the Planning Authority that it no longer had any environmental concerns after the application had been amended and the laying of sunbeds on the beach has been eliminat- ed from the proposal. However, on 8 June, architect Charles Buha- giar presented new plans which still foresee beach concession plans which were resubmitted to the authority. In its report ERA also warned that the project "might" have a visual impact on long distant views and vistas due to its height. But the latest design for the hotel has been endorsed by the PA's Design Advisory Commit- tee which declared that it not averse to the proposal. If approved the hotel will be- come the highest in the area, surpassing the 10-storey high San Antonio Hotel. Qawra is one of five locations where buildings over 10 storeys high can be constructed. A recently approved policy al- so exempts hotels from heights set in local plans, allowing two extra storeys over the number allowed by the local plan on any existing hotel and an un- limited number of floors for stand-alone hotels. Beach concession reappears in 12-storey hotel proposal at Bugibba MATTHEW AGIUS A young mother from Zabbar has been released on bail after she was charged with threaten- ing and stealing from her grand- mother. Inspector Trevor Micallef ar- raigned the 21-year-old woman before magistrate Ian Farrugia yesterday, accusing her of hav- ing threatened her grandmother and caused damage to her prop- erty. She was further accused of stealing three cheques from her elderly relative. Lawyers Franco Debono and Yanika Vidal entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. Bail was requested. The woman's grandmother told the court that the accused has an 11-month-old baby. She suffers from ADHD and the older wom- an was afraid of her mood swings, she told the court. Magistrate Ian Farrugia was an- noyed at the fact that he had pre- sided over the woman's previous cases in district sittings and had observed progress whilst she was living with the grandmother. All this had gone up in smoke now, he said. He upheld the request for bail, ordering her to sign a bail book twice a week and provide a per- sonal guarantee of €1,000. A pro- tection order was issued for the grandmother. A social worker was also appointed to report on the accused and to make recom- mendations. "Its simple: I've given you bail," said the court. "You have the ba- by and an obligation to take care of your son. Don't you dare ap- proach your grandma… if you see her, cross the road and run away. If not we will take care of your baby and I will throw you in jail." Young mum accused of threatening, stealing cheques from grandmother