Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1417022
9 ANALYSIS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 OCTOBER 2021 Scheduled Wilga Street could be set for three-storey rise PA's case officer says Dingli Cliffs hotel 'more rural' than disused building JAMES DEBONO A Planning Authority case of- ficers has described a brand new hotel at the site of the disused Pulvich explosives factory at Dingli Cliffs, as "far more rural" than the existing structures. The 14-room hotel, built in ten separate blocks with a communal 96sq.m pool area, has been rec- ommended for approval despite the strong objections of the Ding- li local council, the Superintend- ence for Cultural Heritage, and over 500 individual objections. The area is outside develop- ment zones. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage waned that the intensification of development in the area would inevitably result in the formalisation of what is "sig- nificant" rural and cultural land- scape, dubbing it "unacceptable in principle", calling instead for the rehabilitation of the site. An internal PA advisory panel on agricultural issues objected to the development, saying any reuse of the explosives factory for non-agricultural purposes, should not be allowed. The Dingli council insisted that once the factory is no longer re- quired, the land should be re- turned to nature and reinstated to its original state. The development could be ap- proved in terms of the controver- sial rural policy approved in 2014, which permits the change-of-use for farm buildings if this results in an environmental improvement. The Environment and Resourc- es Authority however changed its stance on the development: orig- inally objecting to the change of use, it subsequently accepted a downscaled version, which was also endorsed by the Malta Tour- ism Authority. The development will take place in what is an Area of Ecological Importance and a Natura 2000 site within an Area of High Land- scape Value. The site also lies in an area in which the local plan only allows buildings, structures and uses essential to the needs of agriculture can be permitted. Despite policies which preclude commercial developments in a highly sensitive area, the case officer called for approval, ef- fectively committing the site for tourism development by deem- ing the hotel an improvement to the existing dilapidated building, both visually and environmental- ly. "The proposal would be giving a use to an otherwise abandoned and neglected building, while the proposed changes to what is al- ready existing on site aid in mit- igating the impact of the devel- opment and integrating it further with its surroundings." The case officer also said the hotel was "far more rural" than the existing abandoned factory, which however attracts no traffic or activity to the otherwise pris- tine area. But the case officer contends that current structures with un- ruly blank walls will be removed, and external concrete ground coverings will be adjusted to complement the rural setting. The case officer proposed a con- dition to preclude the sale of ho- tel rooms as individual residential units, ensuring the complex oper- ates as one functional unit and not sold or transferred separately. The proposal is made by Sun- route Hotels, a company owned by Adrian Sant, Christopher Sant, Maria Sant and Sarah Sant, which currently owns the Santa- na Hotel in St Paul's Bay. Only a year ago Infrastructure Malta had upgraded the rural road leading to the new hotel. The application is proposing the demolition of the disused explosive factory, and the construction of 14 units spread over 10 one-floor blocks, each with its own outdoor pool and deck AN entire row of nine, sched- uled townhouses on Paceville's Wilġa Street are being proposed for an additional two floors, in a bid to avoid blank party walls. But the uniform design could still impact on the charm of the low-lying buildings, setting a precedent for other neighbour- hoods characterised by similar buildings. As proposed, the applica- tion seeks to raise the building height of the existing scheduled townhouses in "a uniform ar- chitectural vocabulary reaching the adjacent blank third-party walls". Originally, resident Priscilla Calleja requested the addition of two floors to transform her property into a guesthouse back in 2017, but it was recommend- ed for refusal following the ob- jection of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage. In 2018, Planning Authority chairperson Johann Buttigieg proposed an outline application to be instead submitted for the whole stretch of scheduled properties, to de- termine the building height and external appearance, and avoid piecemeal development. Buttigieg noted that the out- line application will cover an area well beyond the applicant's property and will act as a mas- terplan for the whole area. Now Calleja has applied to add three new floors on all town- houses, declaing she was not the owner of the entire site but that other owners had been informed and granted consent. The two-storey, early 20th cen- tury townhouses are scheduled at Grade 2 because of their ar- chitectural and historical value. This scheduling normally pre- cludes demolition or significant alterations. In 2017 the Superintend- ence for Cultural Heritage had warned that the proposed in- crease in height will alter the façade of the scheduled proper- ty, with a consequent impact on the streetscape and on the adja- cent scheduled properties. The latest solution would remove the impact on adjacent properties but would still alter the façade of the property.