Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1479531
8 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 SEPTEMBER 2022 Demolish Festaval hotel and restore area, Mellieha says Mellieħa council insists that since site was designated as an Area for Ecological Importance, the PA has no choice but to order the demolition of the hotel and restore the area to natural state JAMES DEBONO THE Mellieħa council is object- ing to an application presented by the Mizzi Estate to recon- struct the Festaval Hotel in an ecologically sensitive site be- tween the Red Tower and the boathouse village, and is calling for the reinstatement of the area back to its natural state. The objection was filed by Green Party Carmel Cacopardo in his capacity as the council's architect, on behalf of mayor Dario Vella. Cacopardo points out that the area where the dilapidated hotel is located was granted protec- tion as an Area of Ecological Im- portance in 2006. "In view of this designation the only considera- tion the Planning Authority can make in this case is to approve the demolition of the dangerous structure and to order the resto- ration of the site in question." The council also protested at the omission from the applica- tion of any reference to an en- forcement order issued by the Authority in 2018 which repri- manded the owners for leaving the site in a derelict state and "causing injury to amenity", who were asked to present a method statement to address this issue. An appeal by the company against the 2018 planning en- forcement is still pending. Min- utes of tribunal sittings refer to ongoing discussions between the government and the developer to resolve the issue. In the last sitting in June a law- yer representing the site's own- ers informed the Tribunal of his client's intention to present a new application for the site. The hearing was adjourned to 6 Oc- tober. The site owners, Mizzi Estates Limited, a company owned by the Mizzi Organisation and whose directors include Mau- rice Mizzi, Veronica Mizzi and Christopher Mizzi, have pre- sented an application foreseeing the demolition of the old struc- ture and its replacement with a new hotel built over five terraced floor levels above the ground floor. The building will consist of a reception area, hotel rooms, pool, restaurants, back of house, parking spaces and other ancil- lary facilities. The original aparthotel locat- ed in the Sdieri area, between the Red Tower and the boat- houses in Mellieħa consisted of 31 self-catering apartments designed by architect Richard England. It was designed in a way that the roof of each apartment served as the terrace of the over- lying one to minimise the visual impact. But the hillside started giving way before construction was even completed and the ho- tel never received guests. The original hotel was con- structed in the 1980s before the designation of the area as a buff- er zone for an Area of Ecologi- cal Importance and before the planting of indigenous trees for the Foresta 2000 project. In 2017, the company present- ed new plans in relation to an application presented back in 1994. The plans foresaw a 1,600sq.m spa and hydrotherapy centre, 12 apartments with pools, a phys- ical rehabilitation centre, bar and restaurant, and conference room. Subsequently, new plans sub- mitted a month before the PA enforcement was issued, pro- posed a masterplan for the con- struction of 23 villas. But these plans have now been withdrawn and the application is limited to rebuilding the hotel. The North West Local Plan which regulates development in the area states that the redevel- opment of existing tourist ac- commodation facilities in rural areas, will only be considered in very exceptional cases where the new proposal is for a hotel which has very high design quality and considerably improves the rural or coastal landscape. But "even in such rare cases, the increase in the number of beds or the intensification of the existing uses will not normally be favourably considered". Photo: architectrichardengland.com