Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546219
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 AUGUST 2026 NEWS Fireworks factory workshop could become countryside home AN application (PA/04675/26), is seeking permission to change a disused fireworks factory workshop at Ta' Anglin, Xlendi, into a residential dwelling. The site is outside the development zone and surrounded largely by agricultural land which forms part a wider Area of Ecological Importance. The original fireworks facto- ry on the site was destroyed in a fatal explosion in 1997, which killed two people. A planning application to rebuild a new py- rotechnic facility at the sensitive site was rejected by the Planning Authority 22 years ago. A subse- quent request to reconsider the decision was later withdrawn, leaving the original refusal in place. The applicant, Joseph Azzo- pardi who owns the land and who had also presented the 2002 application to reconstruct the fireworks factory, is now seeking to change the use of the work- shop into a 275 sqm villa. Plans presented by the developer sug- gest that the new dwelling will occupy a smaller area then the existing workshop which spans over 471 sqm. But the Environment and Re- sources Authority (ERA) is firmly objecting to the proposed change of use, saying a dwelling would be out of place in an area that is largely free of develop- ment and would trigger further pressures on the relatively pris- tine area. The site is also within a Natu- ra 2000 protected area and areas designated for their ecological and landscape importance. Din l-Art Ħelwa has separate- ly objected to the application, warning that approving the dwelling would add to the grad- ual formalisation of develop- ment in the countryside. The NGO pointed out that an earlier application for the same site, submitted in 2002 to recon- struct the fireworks factory, had been refused by the Planning Authority. ERA said its environmental screening found that the pro- posed works were not expected to have a significant direct im- pact on the protected site's habi- tats and species, but stressed that this did not change its objection to residential development in the rural setting. This is the second application in the past months to turn dis- used fireworks structures in to residential development. The PA is currently also consider- ing the transformation of a fire- works complex in Kercem in to seven self-catering bungalows, each with its own private swim- ming pool. The rural policy allows struc- tures built prior to 1978 or those holding a legal planning permit to be redeveloped or converted into an alternative use. But on- ly developments resulting in a "wider environmental benefit", can be approved through this policy. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Piecemeal hotel expansion in Xlendi valley seeks nine more rooms A boutique hotel in Munxar could be expanded by a further nine rooms under a new plan- ning application, continuing a series of developments on a sensitive Outside Development Zone (ODZ) site overlooking Wied ix-Xlendi/Wied il-Lunz- jata. The application, submitted by Caillin Borg, proposes in- creasing the existing approved 18-room hotel to 27 rooms. It also includes an indoor pool at basement level and three additional rooms at each of semi-basement, ground and up- per-ground-floor levels. The property along Triq ix-Xlendi is located on steep valley slopes within an Area of High Landscape Value, Area of Ecological Importance, Natura 2000 Special Area of Conserva- tion and Site of Scientific Impor- tance. The site's planning history stretches back decades. The two-storey residential building predates 1968, while permits issued between 1993 and 2004 allowed a coffee shop, terrace, swimming pool and other addi- tions, including the conversion of a bar into a bedroom. A major change came in 2015 through PA/03248/15, which sought to change the proper- ty's use from residential to a Class 3A boutique hotel. The approved scheme provided for 13 rooms, a pool, breakfast ar- ea, reception, lounge and other facilities. The proposal had raised envi- ronmental concerns. The Envi- ronment Protection Directorate, which preceded ERA, warned of further intensification beyond the existing built-up area, in- cluding excavation into the steep valley sides, visual intrusion and permanent impacts from rock cutting and site clearance. The Natural Heritage Advisory Committee also described the proposal as highly objectionable from a natural heritage perspec- tive because of the extensive ad- ditions to the existing building and its location within the pro- tected valley. The scheme was subsequent- ly scaled down, including the removal of one basement level, before being approved. A 2017 permit later increased the ap- proved accommodation to 18 rooms. The latest application would therefore mark a further step in the site's transformation from a pre-1968 residence into a 27-room hotel within a protect- ed rural landscape. Reporting by James Debono