An application has been filed to build a four-star 87-room hotel in Marsalforn, complete with a large rooftop pool.
The site is located in Rabat Road with an area of approximately 1,200 square metres, according to the project description statement compiled by the applicants.
The building would be located next to an abandoned farmhouse and fields. The site is already covered with a permit to build an apartment block.
The aim of the project is to “supplement tourism accommodation infrastructure in Marsalforn and to improve its attractiveness as a tourism destination”. Currently, Marsalforn hosts only one hotel and a number of guest houses in the seaside village.
The report highlights that around 45 per cent of the site is outside the development zone, which is listed as an area of agricultural value. However, it states that the agricultural land “has been abandoned for a long time”. The permit for apartments on the site also allowed development on around 32 per cent of the ODZ area.
45% of the site is outside development zone
It pointed out that a hotel does not fall within the list of acceptable land uses within residential areas. However, the Marsalforn Entertainment Priority Area, within which hotels are deemed as acceptable, is located “only approximately 40 metres” from the site.
Originally, the applicant had submitted plans to build a swimming pool in the ODZ area. However, in an updated document, the architect said the area at the back of the hotel was completely redesigned.
All the subterranean amenities and car parking in the ODZ area were removed.
The redesigned garden area would follow that of a natural Maltese landscape. The area was split into two parts: the lower part, also an extension to the restaurant, will feature an excavated cave feature out of the existing bedrock. These excavation works for the lower part “were all within the limits” of already approved excavations.
The report says the changes at the back were “immensely improved in favour of the environment, to the extent that no excavations will take place. Moreover a luscious Maltese garden will sprout instead of what is now abandoned land”.