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.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com