An application has been filed for a nine-storey aparthotel comprising 118 rooms, underground parking and shops on a tract of agricultural land in Mellieħa, outside the development zone.
Spanning over an area of 5,550 square metres, the proposed development lies in Marfa Road, adjacent to the cemetery dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy.
Carol Peralta is listed as the applicant, while the project’s architect is former Labour Minister Charles Buhagiar who owns Med Design Associates Ltd.
Nationalist Party MP Robert Cutajar sounded the alarm bells on this application filed last March, through a Facebook post uploaded on Tuesday.
While branding such proposal as “obscene” he announced that he would be raising the matter in the House of Representatives through a parliamentary question.
Mr Cutajar, a former mayor of Mellieħa, has asked Planning Minister Ian Borg, whether the authorities will be considering this application favourably or not.
His reaction prompted an immediate response from Labour MP Clayton Bartolo, a former Mellieħa councillor, who expressed himself against this development due to its location on ODZ land.
The developer is proposing to excavate the existing site for the construction of a three-star aparthotel and ancillary facilities comprising 38 parking spaces at basement level, four shops, a restaurant, two bars and lounges, a gymnasium, and two pools. Though the application states that there will be 118 rooms over six floors, plans submitted so far indicate that the overall height of the building will be nine storeys. The applicant is also pledging to landscape the area and carry out maintenance on existing rubble walls.
Though no objections to the planning authority had yet been submitted by the time of writing, the initial feedback on Facebook was negative, due to concerns of over development and loss of virgin land.
Prior to this application, this particular site had already been earmarked for a similar development in 2008, but the application had been withdrawn.
Concerns about over development in this locality have been fuelled by a recent controversial decision to approve an eight-storey hotel, within a residential zone on the other side of this village close to Selmun.
Though this development by J Portelli Projects which includes 120 residential units, shops, a hotel and underground parking was recommended for refusal as it breached the height limitation policy of this area, the Planning Authority board overruled the case officer’s opinion. This controversial decision was justified on the grounds of a separate policy which allowed a degree of flexibility when deciding such applications. Subsequently, the Mellieħa council decided to file an appeal.
Meanwhile, a further application this time to increase the Panorama Hotel to eight storeys is still pending. This proposed development had also prompted fierce objections from residents, amid concerns that its close proximity to the parish church, and its location on top of a ridge would create an eyesore.