As plans for a new resort to replace the Mellieħa Bay Hotel remain under wraps, no residential, office or commercial development is allowed on this prime site of ecological importance, according to the conditions laid down in a 1963 emphyteusis agreement.
Under the agreement, the government had leased a massive tract of public land to Beaufort Investment Trust for 150 years for the construction of the existing hotel. An annual ground rent of £150 had been set.
Last month The Sunday Times of Malta reported that after precisely 50 years of operations, this iconic hotel opposite Malta’s most popular beach, Għadira Bay, is set to close down after the summer and the complex demolished.
This project is unfolding at the same time as other major players in the Maltese tourism sector, Corinthia Group and db Group, are forging ahead with massive developments comprising a mix of residential and commercial elements alongside high-end hotels.
As in the case of the Mellieħa Bay Hotel, these developments were possible following the transfer of public land to each company. The Corinthia’s original agreement with the government, struck in the mid-1990s, was exclusively for tourism development but the government is now offering new conditions that would allow residential units to be built.
A spokesman for Mellieħa Bay Hotel, which is part of Alf Mizzi & Sons Group, had said the company was looking into a new project consisting of the building of a brand new five-star resort hotel that will be a major addition to Malta’s tourism product.
There are no indications so far that residential or commercial elements will be part of the project. Any plans there might be have not been published and the company has not yet filed a development application.
A few days ago, The Sunday Times of Malta made a fresh request for details about the planned resort but no reply was received from the company by the time of writing.
However, the 1963 emphyteusis agreement had established strict parameters on what kind of development could take place at this site.
Spanning over 147 tumoli, this site at Tal-Aħrax in the limits of Mellieħa had been transferred to Beaufort Investment Trust on condition that the company used the land “exclusively for the purpose of tourist development”.
Furthermore, the agreement stated that the tenant was bound to build “a self-contained first-class tourist resort hotel with public rooms and single and/or double bedroom accommodation for not less than 420 guests”.
Apart from this massive plot, of which the hotel occupies about a third, the company recently acquired a nearby property in Għadira Bay, formerly housing the Costa Del Sol Restaurant.
Though a development application has yet to be filed, according to the Planning Authority website an old application from 2007 is still pending. Back then the hotel had sought to extend the existing complex by 98 units, by constructing two additional blocks – one next to the bowling green and the other next to the pool area.
However, the proposal had prompted the objection of the Planning Authority’s Heritage Advisory Committee which had recommended refusal. The application was considered to be proposing an extensive development on relatively unspoilt natural garigue land and maquis.
The committee had also based its objection on the grounds that the site was scheduled as an area of ecological importance.
The application was passed on to a case officer to assess the proposal in terms of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development and other established policies.
Meanwhile, the last documents submitted by the developer date back to January 2016. A month ago The Sunday Times of Malta had asked Mellieħa Bay Hotel if this application had been shelved but no reply was received.