Kurt Sansone
Seabank to be granted public land for extension
Seabank Hotel: set to get bigger.
A recently approved extension to the Seabank Hotel in Għadira will be built on public land that still has to be transferred to the developer, The Sunday Times has learnt.
The Parliamentary Secretariat for Land has confirmed "the land will be granted to Seabank Hotel in terms of the Disposal of Government Land Act, on a long-term emphyteusis for the purpose approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa)".
The hotel will grow by 340 rooms into an outside development zone in an area known as Iċ-Ċens at the back of the property after the Mepa board unanimously approved the plan last month.
A spokesman for the secretariat said the area was not subject to any agricultural leases.
The ground rent and other conditions linked to the transfer still had to be prepared, he said, when asked what price the government would be asking.
During the Mepa board meeting the developer said he still had to acquire the agricultural land behind the hotel but he did not specify it was public land.
The extension was given the green light after a two-and-a-half hour meeting during which the Planning Directorate recommended approval.
An application was originally filed in 2005 for a low-lying bungalow-style development covering the whole site. On the directorate's recommendation, it was amended to comprise a 10-storey building covering part of the site alongside the Mellieħa bypass.
The development will include a new reception area, landscaped gardens, pools and restaurants. Parts of it will be built below street level and the height will not exceed that of the existing hotel building.
Hotel owner Silvio Debono has argued all along that the extension is necessary to make the hotel economically viable.
Although the site lies outside the development zone the Northwest Local Plan makes allowances for "restrained development".
Environmentalists had argued that the development could hardly be described as "restrained" since it gobbled up agricultural land.
Mepa's heritage advisory committee had recommended refusal because of the agricultural land and the possible negative impact on the saline marsh that bordered the development.
However, the developer argued that most of the agricultural land was abandoned and the soil was not very deep.
The developer has to pay a planning gain of €150,000 and submit a bank guarantee of €100,000 before works start to ensure compliance with all permit conditions.
The developer was contractually bound to use the extension only for touristic purposes and the permit will be withdrawn if this ceases to be the case.
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Ray Sultana
Mar 15th 2010, 13:12
Two years ago, somebody said that "ODZ is ODZ"!
Today the government is not only allowing Mepa to go against the Local Plan as it pleases, issuing permits in ODZs but is also transferring our land for these shaeful purposes!
Disgusting!!
joe muscat
Mar 15th 2010, 07:29
Kif il-poplu jista` jkollu fiducja fil- MEPA meta tara dawn l-affarijiet isiru, imma il-MEPA trid tkabbar il-multi ghal min jibni bla permess (li huwa hazin), jiftah xi tieqa , jew jaghmel xi alterazzjonijiet (li normalment isiru min nies komuni li jkunu xebghu jistennew lil MEPA) , imma dawn it=tipi ta permessi malajt johorgu minghand il-MEPA ghax is - sid huwa maghruf u b`sahhtu ....dejjem miskin iz-zghir
Vicky Sultana
Mar 14th 2010, 21:45
Carry on devastating the environment,,,,,,, Mellieha continues to be raped. Soon enough tourists will not want to come to a concrete jungle.
George Debono
Mar 14th 2010, 21:07
Bye Bye another piece of Malta
G
oliver mallia
Mar 14th 2010, 21:01
Below are some of the Hotels that had closed their doors these last 5 years in the north Area. Mistra Village Hotel, Pandora Hotel, Blue Mare Hotel, Xemxija Bay Hotel, International Hotel, Concord Hotel, Santa Maria Hotel (2 Hotels), Island international Hotel, Carolina Hotel etc I am 85% against MEPA polices, but the issue about the extension of Sea Bank Hotel, in my opinion was a good. This way Sea Bank Hotel is going to compensate a small percentage of more than 12 Hotels that had closed down in the North.
Astrid Vella
Mar 15th 2010, 20:10
@ Oliver Mallia; you are right in listing hotels which have closed down: to your list of 8: Mistra Village Hotel, Pandora Hotel, Blue Mare Hotel, Xemxija Bay Hotel, International Hotel, Concord Hotel, Santa Maria Hotel (2 Hotels), Island international Hotel, Carolina Hotel, one can add the Festa project, White Rocks, Andar, Atlantis, Germa Palace and no doubt many more. This just proves that there are a great many sites which are lying abandoned and vandalized. Years ago the tourism authorities had declared the policy that new tourism projects had to be on the footprint of defunct ones, a policy reiterated by MEPA. Where has that all gone? As we said of MEPA reform, it's all very well to formulate good regulations, implementing them is another matter.
Michael Neville Cassar
Mar 14th 2010, 20:58
How much more land, out of this small island? Are we to standbye and see more land taken away , stupid decisions have heavy consequences on the Environment.
laurence schembri
Mar 14th 2010, 19:22
And the rape goes on. Shame.
N.Lawrence
Mar 14th 2010, 16:50
ANOTHER ODZ bites the dust. Thank you GonziPN- don't come looking for my vote next time round
C Cassar
Mar 14th 2010, 12:30
Surely any exetensions offered to the owner should also have been under the condition that the existing building is demolished and a completely new one built in it's place atthe owner's cost? After all, the existing building is out of date and of low quality. A new hotel should be built that has a modern design, quality build and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. At the moment, it's just a 1970's dump.
S. Mugliett
Mar 14th 2010, 12:10
Another case of ODZ = Outrageous Development Zone
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Mar 14th 2010, 12:07
F'pajjizi ohra meta taghlaq lukandi u tbiddilhom f'appartamenti ghax ma hemmx qliegh mit-turizmu u fl-istess hin taghti art barra miz-zoni ta' l-izvilupp biex tibni/tkabbar lukandi ghall-qliegh mit-turizmu, jghidu li hemm l-intiena tal-korruzjoni. Malta mhux hekk
John Xuereb
Mar 14th 2010, 10:35
Just wondering whether the hotel proprietor did a feasibility study to see whether the project was economically viable when he originally built the hotel a few years ago and what the future expected income projections where as it would seem that his auditors or whoever did the original feasibility study (assuming the proprietor was duly diligent) got it horribly wrong if the hotel is no longer economically viable.
C Borg
Mar 14th 2010, 10:30
Even more disgusting is the way the local council headed by our public relations expert mayor handled the whole affair during the EIA and MEPA hearings. The chorus of approvals to this hideous project deafened the few who were against.
By the way booing took place to those who spoke against and no one came out condemning such acts of intimidations. Of course it is a matter of two weights and two measures.
Mark A. Sammut
Mar 14th 2010, 10:24
Hotel owner Silvio Debono has argued all along that the extension is necessary to make the hotel economically viable.
Question: If the hotel needs more land to be economically viable, it means it was not economically viable before. Then why was it opened in the first place?!
lgalea
Mar 14th 2010, 15:41
You are right, and why should it be public land that has to make good for it?
John Xuereb
Mar 14th 2010, 10:17
Appalling ....... and the rape carries on unabated.
I just wonder what exactly is the point of MEPA apart from serving as a snapshot of how the Government works and all that is wrong with Malta.
Chris Finch
Mar 14th 2010, 10:02
Disgusting! Simply disgusting. Maybe someone should show the MEPA officials a dictionary and highlight the words Outside, Development and Zone.