Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1373323
8 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 MAY 2021 JAMES DEBONO A seven-storey hotel set to include 23 rooms is being proposed oppo- site the gate of the Sacred Heart school in St Julian's. As proposed the development will include a reception and breakfast area at ground floor, 23 rooms on six overlying floors, one of which receded and a pool at roof level. An indoor pool and gym will be located in an excavat- ed basement. The development only includes two parking spaces. The height of the proposed 'pen- cil' development will change the streetscape of this mainly residen- tial street, creating two large blank party walls on both sides. Residents objecting to the de- velopment fear that with no pro- vision of parking for hotel guests the development will further ex- acerbate the already dire parking problems in this street especially since the location of a hotel will be opposite the main gate of a school. As proposed the hotel conforms to the height foreseen in the de- velopment guidelines approved in 2015 reaching a height of 21m in an area characterized by two-sto- rey developments. This is the third hotel to be pro- posed in the area. The PA has al- ready approved a hotel in the list- ed Cloisters building on Mrabat Street, whose garden will be de- veloped in to an apartment block. Another guesthouse approved on Triq is-Sorijiet in the vicinity of Casa Leone, had to be downscaled from eight to five storeys, due to concerns raised by the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage. Seven-storey hotel proposed opposite Sacred Heart school JAMES DEBONO THE Superintendence for Cultural Herit- age has expressed its concern on the gov- ernment's plans for beach expansion at Għadira, which foresees the development of a 20m groyne jutting from the rocky part of the beach opposite the Danish village, which hosts protected cart ruts. While warning that the beach expansion works will have an inevitable visual impact, creating an "undeniable intensification of development along a major beach", the SCH said works will impact down to bed- rock, immediately adjacent to scheduled cart ruts, possibly impacting or exposing rock-cut features of cultural heritage im- portance. In order to adequately assess the applica- tion, the SCH has asked for photomontag- es to be taken along various viewpoints on the beach. The SCH described Għadira Bay as a significant coastal landscape, traditionally recognised for its "scenic beauty" in an ar- ea which is archaeologically and culturally sensitive. The application foresees the expansion of the southern beach at Għadira Bay by 10m as part of a pilot study preceding an exten- sion of the entire beach. The project will allow the authorities to study the impacts of the extension before considering a much larger plan to extend the whole of Għadira as proposed in 2018. If approved the pilot project will result in the extension of the beach by 1,200sq.m through dredging of sand from other parts of bay. The project is still a far cry from plans presented by Projects Malta in 2018 to extend the whole length of the Għadira beach by 30-40 metres over an area of 38,200sq.m. The pilot project involves the construction of a groyne – a low, partly submerged wall built to check sand erosion deemed essential for the stability of the ex- tended beach. As proposed the groyne will extend 20m beyond the current shoreline from sloping downwards from one meter above sea level to a level of minus three meters below sea level. The groyne will be constructed on the central rocky shore area because the "along-shore drift was noted to move from the southern part towards the northern ar- eas". The rocky foreshore was previously iden- tified for a beach concession for the Danish village. But in 2019 following a public outcry after the application was flagged by MaltaToday, the Malta Tourism Authority withdraw its consent for the proposed beach concession while adding that it could change its posi- tion if the beach is extended. The MTA had attributed its change of heart "to over- riding circumstances" stemming from the fact that Għadira beach had shrunk con- siderably due to the inclement winter, thus reducing the available public open space. However, it pointed out that it could revert to its original position "should the beach show signs of recovery and increase in surface area". The aim of the beach expansion project, according to Projects Plus, the govern- ment agency responsible for the project, is to enlarge the beach so as to be able to accommodate more visitors and avoid overcrowding, while offering "a sustaina- ble solution for the ever-increasing influx of tourists" and restore lost sand due to erosion from the beach in recent years. Groyne next to Ghadira cart ruts raises watchdog concerns The dark blue area identified for beach expansion and the groyne. The location of protected cart ruts marked in light blue