Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1489386
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 JANUARY 2023 Lower but larger Delimara hotel makeover heading for approval JAMES DEBONO CHANGES proposed to an already ap- proved 17-room hotel development at Kalanka beach in Delimara are slated for approval. The case officer has deemed the changes to the yet to be constructed hotel as "ac- ceptable" since they do not entail "any ad- ditional visual impact". The original plans for the hotel were ap- proved in 2018. The building is to rise on the derelict structures of a smaller hotel dating back to the 1950s. The development foresees the removal of one of the two basement levels approved in 2018, the extension of an already approved basement level and a two-metre reduction in the overall height of the development. The 2018 permit was issued despite ob- jections by the Environment and Resourc- es Authority, whose chairman Victor Axi- ak had voted against. The existing built-up footprint of the old hotel covers an area of 343sq.m which was increased to 561sq.m in plans approved in 2018. Through the latest changes the built-up footprint of the hotel will increase to 675sq.m. The 2018 permit also foresaw hard land- scaping for terraces, ramps and a swim- ming pool over 480sq.m which will now increase to 588sq.m, mostly on land al- ready disturbed by the 1950s development. The proposal involves the shifting of accommodation facilities from the main building to stand-alone cabins on the east of the site, and an extension of excavations to the west of the site for the relocation of the underground spa facilities. The existing informal public parking ar- ea (1,856 m2) will be reorganised and land- scaped. Moreover, in the latest plans, excavations for the basement level are set back by a fur- ther 9.4metres away from the cliff edge. The case officer concluded that the "min- imal increase in the disturbed footprint" is offset by the decrease in total area and volume of the project, and therefore there is "no objection to the proposed land take- up". The Environment and Resources Au- thority has acknowledged that improve- ments have been made to the devel- opment in particular with respect to massing, design, the colouring scheme of the buildings and overall landscape impact. But the authority has expressed concerns about the lateral expansion of development, beyond the previously ap- proved footprint. "Though improvements have been made, these are not considered sufficient to offset ERA's environmental concerns that had already been raised vis-à-vis the previous proposal," the environmental watchdog concluded in a report published earlier this year. In its final recommendations ERA had proposed the elimination of the proposed cabins in the easternmost portion of the site, which extend beyond the footprint of the approved development. To justify the lateral extension, the case officer made reference to policies which permit the development of basements in ODZ. The Superintendence for Cultural Her- itage described the proposal as "more ac- ceptable" in terms of its spatial relation to the open areas than the one approved in 2018. The hotel in Delimara as approved in 2018 The existing structures at Kalanka beach The Delimara hotel as proposed now